Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 64:

In page 53, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:“(4) To qualify for tax relief under this provision—

(a) it shall not be necessary for the person claiming relief to be ordinarily resident in the relevant house,
(b) any person who owns a pre-1915 house in a town with a population greater than 10,000 people shall be eligible to avail of tax relief.”.

The amendment relates to section 31, the living city initiative announced in last year's budget. I do not have any difficulty with it and I support the initiative. Looking at the census figures, I see that Limerick city's population declined by 5% in the most recent census. The population in Cork city has been in decline for a number of years and our policies must be designed to support people coming back and living in town and city centres rather than in peripheral developments. The Minister is amending the definition of a qualifying property and removing the reference to a Georgian house and defining a relevant house in a more general way. In this amendment, I raise the matter of whether the Minister is tied to retaining the initiative for owner occupiers only if the purpose is to have people living in these properties and renovated to the point where they are habitable. Will the Minister examine this point?

Currently, only properties built before 1915 can avail of the relief. Will the Minister examine that point so that properties built ten or 15 years after that, many of which are in a state of disrepair, can benefit from the relief?