Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for their contributions. Deputy Daly has again illustrated that there is an issue which is problematic and I agree with her that there is an issue. I would like, and have instructed, my officials to do everything they can to resolve the problem. My difficulty with the amendment is different. It does not solve the problem without raising other issues. The issue can be resolved outside of the legislative process and I would like to have another go to see whether this can be done as quickly as possible.

Dealing with the pyrite issue may require an amendment of the pyrite regulations and possibly the legislation. Officials from the Department, Revenue and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government are examining the issue. I will examine the scope for an administrative solution with Revenue, so people who have the problems outlined by the Deputy will not have to pay the property tax.

With regard to Deputy McGrath's amendments, I agree in principle that local property tax should be offset against rental income in the same way as commercial rates. I will do so as soon as I have the resources and it is appropriate to do so. The advice of the Thornhill report was to do it on a phased basis, and we will take this into account.

The next valuation date is November 2016, which is two years away. There is no need to deal with an issue which will be the subject of the review now, in the absence of advice. We will wait until we receive advice on this and other issues in the review and then we will see what action we will take.

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