185. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the date on which local authorities can commence with the imposition of the 3% levy on vacant land, as proposed in the planning (No.1) Bill. [20907/15]

186. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the projected revenue to local authorities of the 3% levy on vacant land in a full year. [20908/15]

187. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the projected revenue to local authorities of the 3% levy on vacant land in a full year remains with the local authorities as additional revenue or if it is deducted from the Exchequer allocation to the local authority or if it is paid directly to central government. [20910/15]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 185 to 187, inclusive, together.

The Government, at its meeting on 30 September 2014, approved the publication of the General Scheme of the Planning and Development (No.1) Bill 2014 and the subsequent drafting of a Bill along the lines of the General Scheme. The General Scheme was published in November 2014.

The proposed Bill is primarily aimed at supporting the implementation of a number of elements of the Government’s Construction 2020: A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector, with a particular focus on addressing housing supply-related issues with a view to facilitating increased activity in the housing construction sector.

One of the measures which it is proposed to provide for in the Bill is the introduction of a vacant site levy aimed at incentivising the development of vacant, underutilised sites in urban areas. It is proposed that any proceeds generated from the application of the measure will be retained by the relevant local authority for expenditure on the provision of housing and on local improvement works to facilitate the regeneration of the area in which a vacant site is situated. It is not possible at this stage to provide an estimate of the projected annual revenue that the measure might generate.

It is expected that the Bill will be published in the coming weeks with a view to enactment before the summer recess.