Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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606. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount paid to local authorities through development contributions; the breakdown per county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61288/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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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 phased basis.

When a commencement notice is received, an invoice is raised and is shown as income in Appendix 5 (Summary of Capital Expenditure and Income) of the Local Authority Annual Financial Statements (AFS). Development levy debtors are classified as development contributions that are owed in respect of the current year and previous years, and are shown in Note 5 (Trade Debtors and Prepayments) of the AFS. 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 is in respect of the financial year ending 31st December 2023. The figure for development levy debtors (development contributions that are owed in respect of the current year and previous years) in Note 5 of the Local Authority Amalgamated AFS 2023 was €285m, gross of any bad debt provisions. The figure for development levy income (based on invoices raised when a commencement notice is received) in Appendix 5 of the Local Authority Amalgamated AFS 2023 was €260m. The table below sets out the amounts for each local authority for 2023. Audited figures for 2024 are not yet available.