Madam, – Whichever way one looks at it, development land will come into public ownership, either through Nama or the nationalisation of the banks, at considerable cost to the taxpayer. Society empowers local councillors through the development plan process to zone land for development purposes. A system under which individual developers, in association with private banking, have reaped substantial benefit.
Should their property rights still have primacy over society’s property rights as some pundits argue? The time has come to materially change the way development land is valued. The phrase the “common good”, as per the Constitution, should be given its true meaning and not the common good of property developers.- Yours, etc.
JOHN MALONE,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.