Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I add my support to the amendment before us dealing with the pyrite issue. We know from replies to parliamentary questions that only 76 households have been excused from paying this levy, although 2,000 applied. The statistics demonstrate that fewer than 5% of these households have been successful in their application. It is well established that the scheme has been ineffective, to say the least. We know the estimated number of houses that could be affected is up to 20,000. When it was announced in the debate on a Finance Bill a number of years ago, it was indicated that this would be a great saviour.

Deputy Daly's amendment is necessary. I know the Minister stated on Committee Stage that he would deal with the scandal. To expand on the issue, the scheme also needs to deal with the residents in my home county of Donegal affected by muscovite mica. We know the Government eventually moved on the pyrite disaster, although the scheme is largely deficient, has not delivered and is currently under review. There must be a similar scheme for the mica problem and I ask the Government to consider the matter.

Other cases relevant to this amendment include Longboat Quay, Riverwalk Court and other estates that may, in real terms, have properties of zero value. The homes in those estates would have no value on the market if up for sale, and that is a burden for many of the mortgage holders in these estates, given the shoddy workmanship of developers in the period in question. When the issue was raised with the Minister, he turfed the responsibility onto home owners by saying the local property tax is self-assessed and if houses have no value it is possible to declare that to the Revenue Commissioners. I have spoken to residents and they are very concerned about that. They know there are fines for failure to pay or avoiding taxes and, because it is self-assessed, the Revenue Commissioners can come back at a later stage. This must be dealt with in a uniform way.

There are issues in a number of estates, and the Government is well aware of them. People are trying to find remedies, but that has gone on far too long. Where there are defects, as long as this tax applies, there needs to be a clear scheme to make such properties exempt from tax in the period when the homes have no value. That is instead of putting the burden on home owners.

See this speech in context