Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Development contribution charges to be applied on developers are set at the planning permission stage but are not collectable by the relevant local authority until after the development work commences. Commencement notices are issued by the developer to the local authority and these generally trigger the raising of the charge. The normal practice is for the developer to issue a commencement notice for all units in the development at the construction start date which could mean that the full development charges are due immediately. Alternatively, a phased payment plan is agreed between the planning authority and the developer and in other cases, commencement notices are issued for blocks of units on a piecemeal basis.

When a commencement notice is received, contributions collectable within the next 12 months are usually treated as income by the relevant local authority and a short-term debtor is raised. Income from development contributions not due to be paid within the current year is deferred and is not separately disclosed in the Annual Financial Statement (AFS).

The most recent audited data available in respect of development contributions is in respect of the financial year ending 31 December 2020. Appendix 5 of the amalgamated AFS indicates a total development contribution income nationally of €205.5 million for the end of that financial year. The development contribution income for the four Dublin local authorities for 2019 and 2020 is set out in the first table below. 

Note 5 of the AFS indicates that development contribution short term current debtors amounted to €286.5m nationally at the end of 2020, gross of any bad debt provisions. Short term debtors are classified as development contributions that are owed in respect of the current year and previous years. The second table below sets out the aggregate development contribution short term debtors for the four Dublin local authorities for 2019 and 2020. Audited figures for 2021 are not yet available.

Development Contribution Income 2020 and 2019

Development Contribution Debtors 2020 and 2019

In essence, the Development Contribution Debtor figure for 2020 in the second table indicates the aggregate amount of development contributions payable to the four Dublin local authorities that had invoices issued in 2020 and previous years and where payment remains outstanding.