Wicklow County Council Owed €5.44million by Developers

Sinn Féin County Councillor John Brady has called for a full and
comprehensive report on unpaid Development Levies owed to the council,
to be prepared and furnished at the November meeting of the Council.
The request follows answers that he received to questions he had
tabled relating to unpaid Development Levey money which is owed to the
council. Figures which the Sinn Féin Councillor obtained show that
over €5.44million is owed to the council and that 10 developers alone
owe over €2.5million.

Speaking after the meeting Cllr John Brady said "While i was aware a
substantial amount of Development Levy money was owed to the council i
am certainly shocked at the figure the officials of the council gave
me at the council meeting following a series of questions i had put
forward on the issue. The figures show the total outstanding since
1998 is a staggering €5.44m owed to the council in Development Levies
for developments which took place in the Garden County".

Cllr Brady continued "The figures reveled at the meeting show that
there are a total of 425 active files for unpaid levies, 300 relate to
figures below €10,000 and 125 cases of €10,000 or more. However the
most shocking figure to be reveled shows that 10 developers owe the
council €250,000 or more, due to data protection the council was
unable to name the developers".

Cllr Brady went on to say "These figures which i obtained from the
council paint a very poor picture of the council and its relationship
with big developers to ensure money they owe to paid in full and on
time. The discussion which took place at the council meeting on foot
of the answers i obtained came on the same day cuts of €344,000 where
pushed through the council by the majority of the Councillors and yet
€5.44million is owed to the council.

Cllr Brady concluded "I have asked for a full report on the €5.44m to
be given to the council, this report needs to outline clearly what
actions are been taken to ensure this money is paid to the council. I
don't think its good enough for the County Manager to get up at every
council meeting and read prepared statements criticizing people for
non payment of the Household charge and threatening all sorts of
action to ensure they pay €100 charge, yet however on the other hand
the silence is deafening from him when it comes to monies owed to the
council from large developers. Never once has the County Manager ever
mentioned the difficulties progressing any schemes because of the
nonpayment of development levies by these developers. This stinks of
double standards and one rule for them and another for the ordinary
people of Wicklow. I have been given assurances that this issue will
be on the agenda for the meeting in November and i look forward to the
full report on the matter".