FUNDS NOT SPENT:A TOTAL of €1.2 billion in levies paid by developers to local authorities for the provision of services like roads, playgrounds and sports grounds, was unspent at the end of 2006.
The development levies are set by local authorities when planning permission is granted for a scheme.
In the six years from 2001 to 2006, €1.3 billion of such funding was spent, most of it (38 per cent) on water services.
A further 31 per cent was spent on roads and car parking, and 11 per cent was spent on traffic infrastructure.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said there had been "limited application" of development contribution funding to community facilities, with about 15 per cent being applied under this heading.
The Department of the Environment's accounting officer told the CAG that the timing of expenditure was conditional on a number of factors, including local authority capacity to deliver schemes involving design, public consultation, consent, procurement and wider market capacity.
The department also said the development contributions balance will fall steadily from the 2006 figure to €880 million by the end of 2009, due to a slowdown in construction and an expected increase in the annual level of expenditure.
The report also notes that in two cases development levies were used for day-to-day expenditure. It said these instances were drawn to the attention of the relevant authorities by local government auditors.
The department has also restated the restriction on the use of such funds for current expenditure.
The report concludes: "An information gap in regard to the amount of development contributions outstanding should be addressed with the full introduction of accrual accounting."