Under sections 48 and 49 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the 2000 Act), planning authorities may levy development contributions in respect of public infrastructure and facilities provided by, or on behalf of, the local authority that benefit development in the area, based on a scheme of contributions adopted by the elected members of the authority. The level of contribution and the types of development to which development contributions will apply, including any waivers or reductions from charging in specific circumstances, are determined at local authority level and in accordance with the powers vested in elected members in this regard.
My role as Minister is to provide the necessary statutory and policy framework within which individual development contribution schemes are adopted by each local authority. In this context, my Department issued statutory guidelines to planning authorities in January 2013 under section 28 of the 2000 Act on the implementation of development contribution schemes and to which planning authorities are required to have regard in the performance of their planning functions. The 2013 guidelines updated and supplemented non-statutory guidance previously issued to local authorities by my Department by way of Planning Circulars PD 4/2003 and PD 5/2007.
The 2013 guidelines specifically address the issue of "double charging". All local authorities have been advised that any development contribution already levied and paid in respect of a given development should be deducted from any subsequent charge applied on that development so as to reflect that a contribution has already been paid.
Development contributions are levied as conditions attached to planning permissions and are payable prior to commencement of development or as otherwise agreed by the local authority. Local authorities may facilitate the phased payment of contributions, such as when a certain number of housing units are completed or when a particular stage is reached in the development. In this context, planning authorities should ensure that appropriate monitoring and control procedures are in place to prevent any double charging of this nature.
