The ad hoc and confusing way development levies are imposed on business is hampering entrepreneurship, according to the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (CCI).

In a report released yesterday, the CCI criticised the way local authority development charges, which businesses are required to pay when making a planning application, can vary by as much as €22,100 for a 200 square-metre development depending on which authority you are in.

While the CCI said it is not opposed to the idea of development charges, it called on the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to set out stricter guidelines to eradicate the current discrepancies.

"This research reveals a worrying lack of transparency and uniformity in calculation and wide disparities in the charging regimes," said John Dune, chief executive of the CCI.

The research showed that Dublin City Council charges the most expensive rates at €23,400 per 200 square-metre development, with Limerick coming a close second at €22,972 for the same size of development. The cheapest local authority is Galway City Council, which charges only €1,300 per 200 square-metre development.

Some of the main discrepancies relate to the different rules applied to domestic and commercial developments, as well as differing categorizations for developments, the CCI said, citing Kerry's 12 business categories compared with Dublin's two.

Moreover, some update their charges on an annual basis, while others amend them on a quarterly or monthly basis.

Hilary Haydon, chair of the chamber's ratepayers' council said that the variations in timings, indices used and the difficulty in accessing information on development charges is "hampering the ability of businesses to plan and so is delaying investment decisions that our economy needs to be made to sustain future growth."

The report also calls on the Government to provide more assistance to help local authorities adopt a new country-wide system.