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

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. This section amends Part 22A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Part 22A was introduced in the Finance Act 2021 and provides for an annual residential zoned land tax, RZLT, calculated at 3% of the market value of land within its scope. Broadly, this is land that is zoned as being suitable for residential use, or for a mixture of residential and other uses, which is serviced and not affected in physical condition by matters which preclude the development of such land for residential purposes.

The tax was originally scheduled to become due and payable for the first time in 2024. The amendments in this Bill include a deferral of the first liability date such that the tax will now be first due and payable in 2025. In light of this deferral, and as announced on budget day, the Bill also includes an amendment to extend the opportunity, which was available to landowners in the course of the initial mapping process for the tax, to request a rezoning of land which falls within the scope of the tax. Such requests may be made by owners of land that appears on the draft revised final map for the year 2025, which will be published by local authorities on 1 February 2024.

In addition, it is proposed to amend the relevant criteria by reference to which local authorities prepare maps for the purpose of the tax. Such land, which is not immediately available for development, is zoned for development on a phased basis in accordance with the development plan or local area plan of the relevant local authority. It is proposed that such land, commonly known as strategic residential reserve or phase 2 lands, will fall outside the scope of the tax until such time as it is available for development.

The Bill also provides for a number of amendments to support the efficient administration of the tax. These include an amendment to clarify the matters which a local authority must take into account in preparing and publishing a revised final map for the purposes of the tax, as well as amendments to administrative provisions within Part 22A in light of the deferral of the first liability date for the tax until 2025.

The extension of the initial liability date of the RZLT by a year is an important step to ensure fairness and transparency in the process of implementing the tax. Ireland requires increased housing supply to meet its housing needs. The RZLT aims to incentivise landowners to activate existing zoned and serviced residential development land for housing on identified lands, leading to the building of more homes. The tax measure is a key pillar of the Government's response to address the urgent need to increase housing supply in suitable locations. However, affected landowners should have sufficient opportunity to engage with the mapping process, and it is important that a fair and transparent process is applied when local authorities consider what land should be placed on the RZLT maps. For these reasons, I have decided to defer the liability date to 1 February 2025, and critically, the deferral will provide a further opportunity to landowners, whose land will appear on a draft revised final map to be published on 1 February 2024, to request the rezoning of such land by the local authority in whose functional area the land is situated. The deferral will also allow further consideration of alignment of the roadmap actions and timeline in the national planning framework review, including publication of final documents in March 2024.

After quarter 1 of 2024, the national planning framework, NPF, will be incorporated into revised regional, spatial and economic strategies for the three regional authorities in the State, and into each development plan, utilising either provisions currently within the Planning and Development Act 2000, or the Planning and Development Bill 2023. The deferral of RZLT will allow development plans, which feed directly into RZLT-zoned land maps, to be considered in the broader planning context in order to more accurately determine locations of greatest housing need.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has indicated to me that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, intends to write to local authority chief executives requesting that local authorities give strong consideration to requests for rezoning - some of which relate to agricultural land - taking into account existing planning policy that seeks to focus the approach to zoning on the sequential development of settlements, and in particular, lands that are located closest to the centre of settlements, along with housing targets contained in their development plans.