James Bannon (Fine Gael)

The Government has stripped back funding for vital infrastructure and is forcing councils to do its dirty work. The national development plan is €9 billion over budget and seven years late. The Government has failed to give the cash originally allocated to the national development plan when it was published. The incredibly high level of development levies that will be forced on home buyers and businesses were never envisaged when the Planning and Development Act passed into law. Not once did any Minister stand up and say that a 2,000 sq. m. house may have a development levy of €28,000 slapped onto it.