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

I move amendment No. 58:

In page 52, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:"(a) to qualify for tax relief under this provision—

(i) it shall not be necessary for the person claiming relief to be ordinarily resident in the relevant house,
(ii) 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,".

This relates to the living city initiative, for which the Minister of State has indicated he is confident there will be approval from the European Commission shortly. This was first announced two years ago and it was changed last year. Further amendments are proposed in the Finance Bill, which I presume are designed to get approval over the line.

It could be extended to include, for example, people who may not necessarily be ordinarily resident in the house, which would include properties owned by charitable organisations or a person who is a tenant of a property but not paying rent because he or she is a family member of the owner and, also, that the number of locations covered by the living city initiative would be extended to provide that any person owning a pre-1915 dwelling in a town with a population of greater than 10,000 people would be eligible to avail of the relief.