Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to touch on this because the Taoiseach touched on it also and set out his personal views on the matter. I appreciate that the Department of Finance is considering this in the first instance but it will surely liaise with Mr. McCarthy and all the chief benefactors of the fund. Let us look at the scenarios without any predetermined outcome. I note that when writing a piece on this issue, Dr. Brian Keegan of Chartered Accountants Ireland, referred to how the revaluation is due next year, by which time most residential properties could well have seen an uplift in value of 50% or more. The tax is calculated on a percentage of the rounded value, so if the only change made is a higher property valuation, people will see their LPT bills increase substantially. This is coming down the road very quickly for every homeowner in this State.

This also coincides with the phasing out of mortgage interest relief. At the same time as losing mortgage interest relief that is benefitting households by €1,500 to €2,000 a year, people are facing a revaluation of the tax they pay on their property. Leaving aside any possible predetermined outcome, I want to ask a simple question. What is the Department's view on protecting people from the inevitable spikes in the bill they are to face if that is the outcome? Is the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government liaising with the Department of Finance to suggest that it does not want people pay double what they are paying at the moment, that it wants to protect homeowners and keep the amount of income at the same level and in order to do so if there is a revaluation the charge would have to drop? Is the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government painting that scenario for the Department of Finance?