Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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251. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, separately, the development levy balance held in each of the local authority areas; his views on the restrictions that local authorities face in spending these levies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6528/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Development contributions allow local authorities to recoup some of the costs to public funds of servicing land for private development.  They provide a mechanism by which developers can contribute to the cost of providing public infrastructure and facilities that benefit development in the area.  The payment of development contributions is a longstanding part of the planning system, dating back to the first Local Government (Planning and Development) Act in 1963.  Since the Planning and Development Act 2000, each planning authority is required to have a development contribution scheme in place setting out how development contributions are to be applied in their area and outlining the major infrastructure projects to be funded by contributions received.

Information on the monetary value of development contributions collected at year end and not spent is not available in my Department. Local authorities are obliged to include, in Note 11 of their Annual Financial Statements, data showing the closing balances for development contributions. The overall Development Contributions balances, as provided in the table below, comprise both cash and debtors and include adjustments for movements in bad debt provisions. The data provided relates to the balance at 31 December 2012, which is the latest fully audited information available. It should be noted that local authorities operate on an accrual accounting basis and therefore recognise income as earned / billed and not just as cash received. Audited data in relation to 2013 should be available shortly.

Arising from the Government’s effort to meet commitments in relation to the general government deficit limit, the local government sector’s impact on the General Government Balance (GGB) is required to deliver a neutral position each year. The precise manner in which capital and current accounts are managed in order to achieve the overall balance necessary is a matter for individual local authorities themselves. However, within these overall limits, there is additional capacity for new non-mortgage borrowing and the expenditure of capital balances on hand by local authorities, which must be sanctioned by my Department. In reviewing requests for sanction, consideration is given to ensuring that priority infrastructural investment can proceed, that contractual commitments and on-going projects can proceed; and that development contributions already collected and aligned to specific capital projects can be utilised efficiently. 

The development levy balances of all local authorities as at 31 December 2012 are as follows: