Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will deal first with the refurbishment issue Deputy Boyd Barrett has referred to. It is an issue I gave considerable thought to in designing the Bill. For that reason, a clear definition of "substantial repairs" is contained within the new vacant property tax. As the Deputy said, if substantial repairs or a substantial refurbishment is carried out in a chargeable period, an exemption from the vacant homes tax, VHT, might apply. However, for this exemption to apply, the works must have been carried out without undue delay, must have taken a period of not less than six months and one of the following two conditions must be satisfied: a registered professional must certify that the property could not have been occupied while the works were ongoing as this would have posed an actual risk to the health and safety of any occupant, and the planning permission required must have been obtained prior to the work starting; or the cost of the works exceeds one fifth of the market value of the property before works commenced. We have a definition in place of what constitutes substantial repairs or substantial refurbishment. Anything less than that would mean the property was still subject to the vacant property tax. The duration under which the charge would apply would be for properties that are vacant for less than 30 days in a 12-month period. If a property is vacant for less than that, the tax has to be paid.

Regarding the point Deputy made about the level of the local property tax, LPT, I accept that this matter will be open to debate. The Deputy is making the case that it is not enough and that it could be more. I have made the case back that if a property has a normal local property charge on it of €225, the new charge on top of that would be €675. I would certainly judge that to be a significant increase in the bill somebody will have to pay. If a property is valued at €500,000, the charge under the vacant home tax would be €1,485. We will have to assess over time the operation of the tax to see if it is leading to the behavioural change we want, which is a reduction in the number of homes that are vacant.