Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will read it to Ms Tallon. This appeared on the RTE news website on Friday, 15 March.

The Department of the Environment has said this evening that figures on the level of unpaid development levies that it issued to Fine Gael TD Simon Harris earlier this week do not take account of levies that local authorities have written off as bad debts.

It said when bad debts are take account of the true level of outstanding development levies nationally for 2010 was €214m.

The same figure for the unaudited 2011 accounts is €178m.

Our exchange this morning helps to highlight my confusion. I asked a parliamentary question and I was given the figure of €750 million. Within the reply to that parliamentary question, there is a figure of €350 million for long-term debt. The Department issued a clarification to RTE saying that the figures provided to me did not paint the full picture and that, when one looked at the accurate picture, it amounted to €214 million. This morning, I am told that in the view of the Department the real figure is €425 million for 2011. This country does not know how much money it is owed by developers. I am passionate about this because I can give examples in my county, where I served on the county council, of developers going ahead with their developments. They may now have been declared bankrupt but ten or 12 years elapsed while they were not bust and development levies were not secured in that time for development that had taken place and for houses that had been sold. From experience I know that councils did not take such a lax approach to individuals trying to build a two-storey extension. It gives an insight into the cosy relationship that existed at local authority level between developers and local authority officials in some instances. We must establish how much is owed. We must acknowledge that the economy has changed and some of the levies will not be recoverable, but we must get to the true picture. Does Ms Tallon have any insights she can give me on that or information she can provide to me?