Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht

Commercial and Domestic Property Supply and Demand: Property Industry Ireland

3:10 pm

Photo of Michelle MulherinMichelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My point concerns the development contributions. From what Mr. O'Hogan has described, if one was to make it more nuanced around the place looking at market conditions, one would still have disparity. That seemed to be an issue, yet what he described would create it.

My next point concerns zoning, as was referred to by Senator Landy. Where we are interested in zoning agricultural land, should we not be looking at a new model because we are basically enriching people? We are zoning their land, they have not done anything with that land and we need it. Should the State not in some way acquire it and say that it now has the land and will decide heretofore? It probably sounds a bit like communism but in the past, whole areas of land were zoned, the person selling it were enriched and it had a knock-on effect yet it was by virtue of councillors zoning land and bestowing a gift on people. I know the land was needed but surely there must be a better system that benefits the general public than the one we have? I know that certain things are set and we have certain zoning but I am talking about agricultural land or brownfield sites. It is just a thought or comment.