Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for that. In a democracy, it is our job to listen to what everybody has to say and then sum up at the end.

The household charge as proposed under the current Bill is forecast to raise in the region of €160 million on full collection, and any significant reduction in that amount would have significant implications for the level of services that local authorities can provide to their communities. In order to meet this funding requirement while ensuring that the household charge is set at the lowest possible level, it is necessary both to have a broad-based liability for the charge and to keep the administrative costs associated with the collection of the charge to a minimum.

The Bill provides for a number of exemptions to the household charge. The Government considers, in conjunction with the waivers provided, that these are sufficiently broad and will exclude those households in particular difficulties from the ambit of the household charge. The proposed exemptions are as follows - properties that are part of the trading stock of a business and have not been sold or occupied or been the source of any income since their construction; properties vested in local authorities or voluntary or co-operative housing bodies for social housing, as making such properties liable would lead to a circular flow of income and beunnecessarily bureaucratic - this is relevant to the point made by Deputy Ó Snodaigh; properties owned by a Department or the HSE and used or let in the performance of their functions, as making such properties liable would lead to unnecessary circular administrative structures; properties to which commercial rates apply - as with the non-principal private residence charge, it is intended that this charge would operate as an alternative to commercial rates, with properties liable either for commercial rates or for the household charge if they are domestic properties, but not both; properties whose owners have been forced to vacate them because of long-term mental or physical infirmity - this exemption was included in the Local Government (Charges) Act 2009 as a compassionate measure intended to provide for elderly people who have no choice but to move out of their sole or main residence into a residential nursing home; and properties owned by charities.

In addition to these exemptions, two important waivers will apply. The Government proposes to exclude from the household charge households in receipt of mortgage interest supplement from the Department of Social Protection. This waiver is expected to apply to 18,000 households. The Government also intends to provide a waiver for households in certain categories of unfinished housing estate. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government will set out in regulations to be made under the legislation the list of the unfinished estates to which the waiver will apply. There will be total transparency about the names and locations of these estates. This waiver will benefit residents of these unfinished estates as they work with stakeholders in implementing resolutions for these problematic developments.

It should also be noted that under the Bill, liability to the household charge will not apply to the following groups: tenants in private rented accommodation for any lease or tenancy under a term of 20 years; tenants in local authority housing; tenants in receipt of supplementary welfare allowance rent supplement from the Department of Social Protection; households that are purchasing their homes under the shared ownership scheme, where the local authority still retains an ownership stake; tenants or those living in housing provided by voluntary or co-operative bodies; persons living in housing vested in the HSE or a Minister of the Government - somebody mentioned the Department of Finance; homeowners who have been forced to vacate their properties by reason of long-term mental or physical infirmity and are now living in properties they do not themselves own; households in receipt of mortgage interest supplement; homeowners residing in certain unfinished housing estates; and those residing in properties owned by charities or discretionary trusts.

While I accept that the introduction of the household charge is an additional cost to households, I remind Deputies that those liable to pay the charge will have the opportunity to do so in instalments of €25, four times throughout the year. I also point out to Deputies that expanding the number of exemptions in the manner proposed in the amendments they have tabled would leave no option but to increase the quantum of the charge in order to raise the revenue necessary to abate the reduction in Exchequer resources to local government.

In his Budget Statement, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, announced that for first-time buyers who purchased their homes between 2004 and 2008, the rate of mortgage interest relief will be increased to 30%. He also announced that for individuals who purchase homes in 2012, enhanced rates of mortgage interest relief will be applied at the rate of 25% for first-time purchasers and 15% for other purchasers. This will act as a further boost to those first-time purchasers who took out mortgages in the housing boom years.

I thank the United Left Alliance for its proposed amendment on income thresholds for the purposes of exemption from the household charge. I am heartened to see the income levels at which Deputies who purport to represent those who are most in need in our communities propose exemption from the household charge. Sinn Féin has suggested, in amendment No. 5, that those with incomes below €75,000 - I repeat, those with incomes below €75,000 - should be exempt from the household charge, while the United Left Alliance has pitched its proposal at a mere €150,000, or just twice that proposed by Sinn Féin.

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