Property developers who benefit from a rezoning or receipt of planning permission should make a contribution to ensure that the less well off have an opportunity to live in affordable accommodation, the chairman of property company Dunloe Ewart, Mr Noel Smyth, said yesterday.

"It is not possible in today's day and age for developers to assume that they can hold on to all of the gain or all of the value that they have received as a result of a planning permission and/or a rezoning that has occurred in order to meet the needs that, from time to time, occur in a particular community," he told Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Chamber of Commerce.

"If they have benefited from a rezoning or a planning permission, they should be expected to make a contribution towards those in society who are on the first rung of the ladder to ensure that they do get the same chances as all of the rest of us have received over the years - namely, the right to live in good and affordable accommodation."

Citing Dunloe Ewart's joint ventures with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Tralee and Wexford Urban District Councils, Belfast City Council and Aer Rianta, among others, Mr Smyth said the company had "followed a strategy sharing the risk and sharing the reward".

"What we are preaching, we in effect are practising daily," he said.

However, he said the proposal in the Planning Bill to give 20 per cent of development land to local authorities without Government funding would not have the desired effect of making "affordable" housing available.

"I am not for a moment quibbling about the size of the `setaside'," he said. But without appropriate Government funding to provide for development on the sites set aside, the plan would be "a fallacy - it won't happen".

Instead, Mr Smyth said the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dempsey, should insist that the original developer build on the set aside section of a site to ensure the cohesiveness of the structures on the site and keep costs down. "He should insist that the developer provide the actual facility as part of the overall structure."

Calling on the Government immediately to complete the Luas light rail system and the connection of Luas to the DART system and to create park-and-ride facilities for bus passengers, he said this could be achieved through a partnership between private and public enterprises.

"The key issue for the overall county is that the longest possible extension of Luas (possibly to Shankill) is achieved as soon as possible."