Councils refuse to repay Metro levies

DUBLIN LOCAL authorities are continuing to charge development levies in relation to the Metro North rail line, even though the project has been postponed indefinitely by Government.

Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council have between them collected almost €18 million in levies paid by developers who were granted permission to build near to where the line was to run.

The Government last month decided not to proceed with the line from St Stephen’s Green to Swords as part of the 2012-2016 capital investment programme.

The bulk of the money was collected by Fingal with just over €3.2 million collected by the city council. The local authorities said they can retain the money on behalf of the Railway Procurement Agency for 30 years.

However, construction industry representatives said it was not reasonable to retain money in relation to a non-existent rail line, as the infrastructure could be of no benefit to residents of an estate nor used as a selling point.

“If the project is not going to go ahead the money should be repaid immediately,” Hubert Fitzpatrick of the Construction Industry Federation said. “In addition, no further Metro levies should be imposed on new planning permissions being granted.”

However, the Railway Procurement Agency said retaining and continuing to apply levies was justified. “The project has not been cancelled. Indeed, the Government acknowledged the vital importance of the Metro North project and have indicated it will be considered again in 2015 for inclusion in the next capital programme,” a spokesman said. “The levy scheme is in place for a period of 30 years and the Metro North railway order is valid for 10 years. RPA is confident that the project will proceed within these timescales.”