Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Finance the reason persons who adapted a home for use by a disabled person prior to 2001 are excluded from the relief offered to those by section six of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14153/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Act 2013 on 13 March introduced a number of amendments to the original Act, including the relief referred to by the Deputy. Section 15A of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) provides for a reduction in the market value of a residential property that has been adapted for occupation by a disabled person where the adaptation has been grant-aided by a local authority. The person with the disability must occupy the property as his or her sole or main residence after the adaptation is completed. The reduction in value is limited to the lesser of the chargeable value attributable to the adaptation work carried out on the property and the maximum grant payable under the relevant local authority scheme. The relief ends on the sale or transfer of a property that has been adapted, unless the person with the disability continues to reside in the property.

A person who adapted a home before 2001 is not excluded from this relief. The relief is dependent on local authority grant aid being paid under S.I. No. 607 of 2001 or S.I. No. 670 of 2007. The 2001 regulations cover adaptation work carried out on or after 1 March 1993 and on foot of applications received by a local authority up to 1 November 2007, at which stage S.I. 670 of 2007 came into effect.