Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I am aware of the point the Senator is making and we may be slightly at cross purposes. The levy I referred to in this instance applies specifically to those permissions which would have withered. I introduced it in order to obtain a community gain. I considered all the options and wanted to get something back, but I did not want to lose the supply. This is separate from Part V and the Senator is absolutely correct to state that there was no imperative on these sites at all regarding the legislation. I had the option of either letting them wither or of maintaining supply. However, I then felt I would go the extra mile and try to get something back. These levies of 0.5% and 1% apply to approximately 80,000 planning permissions so there is an immediate ring-fenced gain of about €80 million which will go directly to the local authorities' housing capital funds. I have obtained a major gain.