Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if local authorities are now taking into consideration benefits from the metro north when determining development levies; and if not, when he anticipates they will do this. [44383/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Development contributions are levied by local authorities on the basis of development contribution schemes which set out how contributions are to be applied in respect of developments in their respective functional areas. Section 49 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), provides for the preparation of supplementary development contribution schemes in order to facilitate a particular public infrastructure service or project that benefits development in the area. Such public infrastructure services and projects include rail, light rail metro or other large public infrastructure projects.

As the original Metro North project was to traverse the functional areas of Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council, supplementary development contribution schemes were adopted under section 49 of the Act by both Councils in 2007, and subsequently revised in 2013, with a view to facilitating the project.

However, the National Transport Authority (NTA) notified both local authorities on 29 September 2015 of a Government decision not to proceed with the original Metro North project and to instead proceed with a revised Metro North project, entitled "new Metro North".  As the new Metro North will differ from the original Metro North project, the NTA advised both local authorities that their existing section 49 supplementary development contribution schemes in respect of the original Metro North project should cease and be revoked. Both Councils subsequently commenced a process to cease their existing Section 49 supplementary development contribution schemes for Metro North and to refund any contributions received under their schemes in respect of the project.

The NTA is the sanctioning authority for public transport projects in the Greater Dublin Area, and would, accordingly under the provisions of the Act, be consulted in the adoption of such section 49 supplementary development contribution schemes. It is ultimately a matter for the local authorities concerned to decide on the introduction of supplementary development schemes in their respective functional areas. The adoption of such schemes is a reserved function of the elected members of each planning authority and I have no function in this regard.

I am informed that there is currently no active development contribution scheme in place for new Metro North.  When details of the new project are formally notified to the two Councils, including details of the appropriate catchment area to be serviced by the project, the process of adopting new supplementary development contribution schemes will commence and contributions will be applied on the completion of that process.