Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his response. I go back to what I asked about residential zoned land tax. When will we be able to quantify whether that tax is working to prevent land speculation and hoarding? Will the Minister come back and seriously look at this again? As I understand it, EY was tasked by the Department of housing to look at the issue of uncommenced planning and that report was pulled in 2023.

I will also speak to the amendment in the names of Deputies Ó Broin and Gould on the call for a viability assessment. I believe it is a prudent amendment. It makes sense that if a developer has not commenced a development within a set period, it should have to come back and tell the planning authority, if it is granted an extension, what has materially changed that would allow it to commence that development. This is done in other jurisdictions and it should be publicly available. The public should be able to see the schedule and construction costs so there is full transparency and accountability. This would mean someone could go for a planning extension because, for example, they need certainty in terms of financing but not because they know the longer they sit on the land, the more value it will accrue.

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