Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I intend to raise the issue of development levies later tonight as a Topical Issue but wish to say now that, since the development levy waiver was taken away, many young people in my constituency, Galway East, feel like they are being scammed. I realise that sounds harsh, but what I mean is that a young person in east Galway today building a one-off home can pay the local council up to €5,000 or €10,000 between connection fees and development contributions. Understandably, people are happy to pay their electricity and water connections and they see the value in these, but when it comes to development contributions to the council, they are incredibly frustrated. The money goes into the abyss and in rural areas, we do not see lighting or footpaths. It is a major source of frustration. Maybe there is now time to restructure how the money is being spent or ensure it is ring-fenced within councils for allocation for local infrastructure. I would appreciate the Taoiseach’s thoughts on this.

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