Developers will have to sell up to 20 per cent of their land to local authorities for "affordable housing" in exchange for planning permission for private housing on the remainder, according to the planning Bill published today.
The provision, which applies to land bought from today, can be used only by local authorities which have first prepared a housing strategy.
The measure, which forms part of the new Bill, is described by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, as "the most radical ever brought forward" to deal with soaring house prices.
The entire planning process would be streamlined under the new legislation, which consolidates and reforms all nine Planning Acts since 1963. Its aim is to reduce delays to a minimum, and time limits for making decisions are given in weeks rather than months.
It would enable local authorities to acquire land at its existing use value to build social or affordable housing for letting or for sale to people with incomes too low to qualify for an ordinary mortgage. The Bill includes "clawback" provisions to prevent profiteering.
People who meet the criteria would be able to acquire a house at little more than its cost price. If they sold it within 10 years, however, they would have to refund part of the sale price to the local authority; after 10 years, they would be entitled to receive it all. Mr Dempsey said the Government believed these measures were "fully justified by the present conditions in the housing market and the major increase in demand for local authority and other social housing", and they reflected the importance it attached to housing.
He denied that the acquisition of land from housing developers at agricultural values amounted to confiscation, saying that the advice available to the Government from the Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell, was that the measure was constitutional.
The Bill also includes provision for the designation of a limited number of "strategic development zones", where sites could be offered to internationally mobile companies locating in the State without the need to go through a lengthy planning and appeal process.
It also redefines the roles of An Bord Pleanala and the Environmental Protection Agency in dealing with industrial and other developments with pollution potential; the appeals board will now be entitled to take this into account when making its decisions.
An Bord Pleanala is also to be given the right to reject appeals in cases where it has reason to believe that they are being made with the aim of delaying a particular development or for the purposes of blackmailing a developer into paying off objectors.
No objectors would in future have a right of appeal to An Bord Pleanala against any development unless they had first made a written submission to a local authority. In addition, they will be required to pay a fee of £20 to have their views taken into account.
Other restrictions on third-party rights include a provision that would prohibit any objector seeking a judicial review by the High Court of any planning decision unless they could show a "substantial interest".
The legislation will also give the Minister for the Environment the power to appoint a commissioner to take over the functions of a local authority in cases where there has been impropriety, serious inefficiency or other non-compliance by a county manager or elected members.
The Bill also exempts pop concerts and other outdoor events from planning control; instead, they are to be licensed by the local authorities.