Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-14
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Christopher O'Sullivan (FF), Cork South-West

I thank the Senators who have spoken and Senator Alice-Mary Higgins for proposing the amendment. I hope I can provide some of the clarity Senators are seeking in my response.
Amendment No. 1 seeks to amend section 3 of the Bill, which provides for the repeal of the vacant site levy provisions in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, as they have been superseded by the residential zoned land tax. Section 3 allows the Act of 2015 to continue to apply to ongoing appeals in relation to the market value attached to a site on the register of the levy. The Bill also facilitates the completion of the work of the Valuation Tribunal and the facility for the local authority to issue the levy demand and, where necessary, for An Coimisiún Pleanála to deal with any appeals to the demand that may arise in those existing cases currently with the tribunal.
The amendment proposed by Senator Higgins seeks to insert a new subsection into section 3 to provide for the ongoing collection of the levy. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to accept this amendment as it is unnecessary. Notwithstanding the repeal provision as set out in section 3, demands for payment of levies which have been issued but have not been collected before the date of coming into operation of the repeal of section 15 will continue to apply and can be collected by the relevant local authority.
Section 27(1) and (2) of the Interpretation Act 2005 ensures that where an Act is repealed, the repeal does not affect anything duly done under the repealed enactment or affect any liability incurred under the enactment. In the case of vacant site levy demands which have been issued, the local authority may continue to collect those levies and, if they are not paid within two months of the issue, recover the debt as a simple contract debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.
As noted, the amendment set out by the Senator is, therefore, not considered necessary, as outstanding levies can continue to be collected under the aforementioned section of the 2005 Act.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:15+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-14