Mr. Terry Sheridan:

The Deputy has raised a number of issues. He referred to the lack of green areas in urban city centres. It is possible that the vacant site levy could be a mechanism to deliver more green areas in central urban areas. We are possibly envisaging in the legislation a provision that no levy would be applied on a vacant site where its use was converted into a playground or green area as long as it was not vacant. These are the kinds of details we are teasing out currently with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. It is something we are looking at and it may well be incorporated when the Bill is published. We are only at the initial stage of proposing the heads of the general scheme, but it is something we are contemplating.

A replacement national spatial strategy will be addressed in the second planning Bill and aimed at providing an overarching framework for balanced regional development. The Deputy referred to an over-concentration in Dublin. Currently, yes, but we hope the next national framework will be national in focus and address all areas of the country to provide for strategic investment in the provision of infrastructure throughout the country.

Deputy Bannon referred to the need for greater development of town centres. I agree completely with him. One of the purposes of the vacant site levy is to incentivise development of not just inner city areas, but country towns with populations of more than 3,000. We have seen since the economic collapse closures of significant numbers of retail outlets and commercial units on the main streets of towns throughout the country. The levy will be a mechanism to incentivise the development of these types of-----