Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy's point on thresholds and entry points is valid and deserves significant consideration. The Minister, Deputy Noonan, and I debated it in this Chamber during the Finance Bill debate and the Minister is keeping the issue under review. I will relay the Deputy's views to the Minister. The Deputy pointed out that there is already an incentive in the form of lower LPT on a smaller property for a person who downsizes as well as reduced running costs and energy costs. The nub of the issue is supply. Recently, I saw startling figures regarding the four Dublin local authorities. They stated that sufficient planning permission has already been granted, with no insurmountable infrastructural deficit, to deliver more than 20,000 housing units in the four Dublin local authority areas while a further 25,000 new homes are considered permissible on existing land zoned for residential use if the landowners and developers wished to seek those permissions. The challenge for the Government and my colleagues at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, is to unleash the potential. The Government's Construction 2020 strategy, along with the forthcoming Planning and Development (No. 1) Bill - which has been given priority and which will include revision of the Part 5 social housing obligations and the retrospective application of reduced development contributions - should, hopefully, result in an activation of the land that already has planning permission and is zoned and serviced. This could deliver up to 20,000 housing units in the four Dublin local authority areas.

Under the LPT legislation, the initial value of a property on 1 May 2013, assuming it was made in good faith, is valid until 31 October 2016. The next valuation date will be 1 November 2016. In advance of this, the Minister, Deputy Noonan has said a comprehensive review of the LPT and its impact on the liability due to increasing property prices will be undertaken. The review is under way, the Department is considering all pertinent matters and the Minister will report back to the Oireachtas well in advance of the next valuation date, 1 November 2016, to try to give certainty on this issue. Given that it is causing people significant concern, we would like to provide details on it.

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