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Tipperary farmers have paid almost half a million euro to their county council in development contribution charges? since 2014.
The end of dairy quotas brought a wave of farm building work, and dairy stronghold Tipperary showed a particular surge in contribution charges.
The fees collected by the county council jumped from just €20,674 in 2014 to €106,916 in 2018 and €72,455 in 2019.
An Irish Farmers Journal investigation has revealed that some counties have seen development contribution fees paid by farmers more than double since 2014. The fees are levied on planning applications for new farm buildings.
There has been criticism of the charges in the past, with each county setting its own rates and exemptions.
Between 2014 and 2019, the fees paid by farmers in Offaly rose from €7,488 to €18,565. In Westmeath, they rose from €11,197 to €23,058. In Kildare, farmers paid €146,484 in development charges last year.
Many county councils say the charges help with road infrastructure or surface water infrastructure, but farmers have said it’s difficult to see how each council calculates these costs. Every county has varying charges and there has been major farmer kickback in some counties including Kilkenny and Tipperary.
Councils can alter charges as they wish, with Roscommon County Council recently categorising some dairy buildings as “intensive”, meaning they will be liable to a higher contribution charge rate.
Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), each county was requested by the Irish Farmers Journal to reveal how much they received in development contribution charges in 2019. However, just four counties provided the figures, with others replying that the information was not easily accessible or available without costly internal data processing.
The total charges paid by farmers in Tipperary, Kildare, Westmeath and Offaly amounted to over €260,000 in 2019.
This is likely to be much higher if other counties, especially from dairy counties such as Wexford and Waterford were to reveal their charges.
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