Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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734. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will indicate separately the development levy balance held in each local authority area; his views on the restrictions that local authorities face in spending these levies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29729/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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My role as Minister with regard to development contributions is to provide the necessary statutory and policy framework within which individual development contribution schemes are adopted by each local authority. The adoption of these schemes is a reserved function of the locally elected members of each planning authority. It is a matter for the members to determine the level of contribution and the types of development to which they will apply. Similarly, and as with all local charges, the invoicing and collection of any outstanding development contributions is a matter for the planning authority concerned to manage in the light of prevailing local circumstances and in accordance with normal financial procedures. Where any payments required in respect of development contributions are not settled, such payments may be pursued by the planning authority through the courts as a contract debt and until such time as amounts outstanding are discharged in full, the conditions of the relevant planning permission are regarded as not having been met with the development concerned being unauthorised. Information on the monetary value of development contribution balances on hand (collected at year end and not spent) is not available in my Department. In relation to development levy debtors and amounts collectable, local authorities are obliged to include data on current and long-term development levy debtors in their Annual Financial Statements. The figures set out in the table below outline the position at the end of 2013. The audited figures for 2014 are not yet available. Current debtors are debts due in the current year, and long term debtors are debts due in respect of periods greater than one year. An annual breakdown in respect of long term debtors is not available.

Data on bad debt provisions relating to current development levy debtors, is also included in the table and is sourced from Quarterly Debtor Reports collected from local authorities by my Department. Restrictions on the use of contributions are necessary. The charging of development contributions is intended to allow local authorities to recoup some of the costs to public funds of servicing land for private development. Without such contributions, this servicing would not proceed or the full cost would have to be borne by the taxpayer. The Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, therefore provides for income from development levies to be ring-fenced to pay for facilities servicing new development, for example, for roads, footpaths, public lighting and open spaces.

Development contributions are levied by planning authorities on the basis of a development contribution scheme approved by the elected members which sets out how contributions are to be applied in their respective functional areas. The level of contribution, and the types of development to which development contributions should apply, is therefore determined at local authority level in accordance with the powers vested in elected members in this connection.