Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 20:

In page 16, line 20, to delete “the residential land on which the site is situated” and substitute “residential land in the vicinity of the site”.

Section 23 outlines how the proceeds of the vacant site levy are to be used by the planning authority. It ring-fences the proceeds to be solely used for the provision of housing on the residential land on which the vacant site is situated or for the development and renewal of the regeneration land on which the site is situated.

Amendments Nos. 20 and 21 provide for an amendment to subsections (1)(a) and (1)(b) to provide greater clarity on how the planning authority may use the proceeds of the levy. The current wording of the provision stipulates that the levy proceeds may only be used on the vacant site on which the levy is being applied. On further consideration and rereading of the provision, this would be an overly restrictive and impractical approach for a local authority. Accordingly, the amendments revise the wording of these subsections to provide that the proceeds may be used for the provision of housing on residential land in the vicinity of the site or the development and renewal of regeneration land in the vicinity of the site. This gives the planning authority wider scope in the use of the levy proceeds, thereby providing greater benefit to the overall local area in which vacant sites are located. These amendments are a necessary revision to the text of the Bill so as to enable the planning authority to use the levy proceeds in a more appropriate and beneficial way.