Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister gave no indication of the recommendations of the 83-page report by Dr. Thornhill on needed reforms in 13 areas or when they would be carried out. All we have at this point in time is a date in November 2019 when the revaluation of the LPT liability will take place. All of us in this room know what that means. It means that nearly every household in the State will see an increase in their local property tax. It is likely that most households will go up at least one step. In some areas, as the Minister mentioned, where house prices have been accelerating at a faster rate, particularly in certain parts of Dublin, we could even see a two-step increase, which could be significant. In my view, there is a need to inform people and the debate as to what is going to happen. The Government talks about how this is progressive taxation and all the rest, yet the whole point of the local property tax is that it is meant to be linked to one's asset. If it is not linked to one's asset, then it is not a local property tax. Unfortunately, the way that this family home tax has been structured means that people are actually paying on their liability. People in negative equity still have to pay this.

I encourage the Minister to carry out the report and to issue a comprehensive statement in response to Dr. Thornhill's report on where the Department stands on the reforms that he has recommended in order that we can have a fuller discussion. There are other issues that need to be addressed. Unfortunately, my amendment No. 68 has been ruled out of order. That is related to issues of muscovite MICA. It is a plight in particular areas in Donegal in which buildings are crumbling. There has been excellent investigative journalism carried out by RTÉ that looked at this issue in great detail. There is a need for the Government to address this issue. I note that the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government has made comments on this in the past. We need some action and the Minister for Finance has a role in that.

I have one last point I wish to make about the local property tax. We were told at the time that there would be exemptions. As we know now, there are no exemptions from the local property tax, not even for those on the lowest incomes. There are people in the courts at this point in time, where the banks are trying to take their homes from them. They are still subject to this liability, as are those in negative equity and so on. What we do have is a deferral. People have to be on very low incomes to be able to avail of the deferral. How can we justify the fact that the State is charging them an interest rate of 4%, at a time when one would not even get a 1% interest rate on savings one has in the bank and when the country is able to borrow at less than 1%? The local property tax is still accruing on the people who are on the lowest incomes in society and who are therefore able to prove to the State that they do not have the resources to pay it. On top of that, a 4% interest applies. When this was decided, interest rates were very different to what they are now. In my view, it is completely unjustifiable. Despite my reservations about an opposition to the overall local property tax, the idea that we continue to apply a 4% interest rate for people who cannot afford their local property tax is wrong. It is profiteering off the back of people who already cannot afford to pay in the first place. I encourage the Minister to change the interest rate charge for deferred payments to an appropriate rate.