James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I welcome the guidelines. The Minister has spoken at length about his proposals regarding the capping of developments in villages but perhaps he could elaborate on this. The Green Party proposes to introduce local capital gains tax on zoned lands but will this be another stealth tax? What are the Minister's proposals on lands that have been zoned in villages to date? Will a levy or tax be placed on them?

As Deputy Hogan said, there is a need for proper infrastructure in our villages. In my county, Longford, sewerage schemes have been bundled together in Ardagh, Aughnacliffe and Ballinalee. Very little progress has been made on these schemes in the past decade because if one area failed to cross a "t" and another failed to dot an "i", all schemes would be held up. It was not a great system that was operated by the Department. In every area where a community was involved, perhaps there were more progressive people in one particular area or another who wanted to get the development off the ground. On another issue relating to planning, I would like to see greater uniformity——

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