Windfall gains from rezoning decisions should go to the public or community interest rather than simply to the landowner or developer, the Tánaiste has told the Dáil. Marie O'Halloran reports.
Ms Harney said the Government hoped to be in a position "sooner rather than later" to bring in the necessary legislation to implement proposals similar to those recommended by the all-party committee on building land.
"I understand the Minister for the Environment is reflecting on this report and he is due to bring proposals to Government," she said. The Tánaiste was responding to the Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, who condemned the Government for failing to act on the committee's proposals, reported a number of months ago. He asked what was delaying the legislation, given that "since 1997 the prices of houses have trebled from €97,000 in 1997 to €300,000 for an average new house today".
The Labour leader questioned the delay "when the price of a new house has increased at nine times the rate of inflation, at five times the rate of average earnings and at four times the increase in the cost of building a house".
The single factor that was fuelling this spiral was the cost of building land, he said, which represented between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of the price, when it was somewhere between 13 per cent and 14 per cent in the past.
Ms Harney pointed out that it was also true that one in every seven houses in this State was built in the past six or so years.