Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Hogan for his presentation and I apologise for being late. There is broad welcome for this legislation. The idea of a land tax has been talked about for decades, as has the idea that the State would share in the benefit of any increased value brought about through the rezoning of lands. The move will be broadly welcomed. If those funds can then be used to accelerate, or at least contribute to the acceleration of, the delivery of social and affordable housing, there will, I hope, be broad support for the measure.

I have some specific questions to clarify matters. The witnesses outlined that the proposed 30% tax will only apply to the incremental value increase. I also understand there are some proposed exemptions. Will they talk through what those exemptions will be and the thinking behind allowing for them?

Mr. Hogan mentioned in his opening statement that an economic appraisal was completed. Is that available? He also mentioned a tribunal.

How will it operate? What will be its make-up and how it will be accessed?

The proposal for a register in the draft legislation, as I understand it, is that each local authority will operate a register. What is the thinking behind the registers being held and managed locally by each local authority? In an era of shared data, it seems a little outdated, but perhaps there is information the officials could share that will help with our understanding of that.