Green Party councillors on Dublin City Council have said that a levy on new hotel construction should be introduced.
The Greens’ eight councillors on Dublin City Council are proposing a doubling of charges on new hotel construction, with the windfall used to construct new homes.
The party estimates that the measure would bring in an estimated €3 million a year.
Under the current plans, the city’s development plan is applied to all new buildings in the city, and is calculated per square metre.
Per the Greens, the extra revenue could be used to reduce the equivalent charge on new residential developments and support public projects across the city.
In addition, a new levy on advertising screens — which have been exempt from development charges for decades — was also proposed by the Greens, with the party saying the surplus will be redistributed into home building and general city improvements. again with proceeds directed toward home building and city improvements.
Green councillors had the changes included in the council’s draft scheme, which is now out for public consultation, and it will then be voted on by the full city council in June.
As the Greens are part of the governing coalition on Dublin City Council, alongside Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour, it is expected that the motion will be passed.
Cabra-Glasnevin councillor Feljin Jose said that Dublin has a “serious” imbalance,” remarking, “we’ve made it easy and lucrative to build hotels, and too expensive to build homes. This proposal uses the city’s own tax system to start correcting that — without costing the council a cent.”
He said, “we are taking action on the proliferation of advertising screens across our city- they add nothing to our streetscape and need to pay their way.”
South-West Inner City councillor Michael Pidgeon said that Dublin needs “more homes and fewer hotels,” and stated
“The development levy is one of the tools we have to shape what gets built in this city.”
“We want to use it deliberately and strategically, ensuring that the country’s building sector is prioritising what is necessary.”