Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 9, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“(d) a liable person forms a view that the property has been damaged as a result of the use of defective concrete blocks,”.

Táimid ag plé le section 18 den Bhille agus tá seo ag déileáil le tithe atá impleachtaí ó thaobh mica agus pyrite ag baint leo agus nach dtagann faoin cháin seo sa reachtaíocht seo. An cheist atá agam ná cad iad na coinníollacha a chaithfear dul tríothu le díolúine a fháil ón cháin seo? Nuair a fheictear na coinníollacha sin, tá siad iontach deacair agus tá costas ag baint leo fosta.

Section 18 deals with the exemption for homeowners whose houses have been affected by mica or pyrite. However, when one looks more deeply at the conditions attached to that one can see it is very difficult and, at this point, very costly for people to satisfy these conditions to ensure they are exempt from the local property tax.

In my constituency of Donegal, this is a major issue and Deputy Mac Lochlainn has been campaigning for years on the mica redress scheme and the fact it is not fit for purpose. The families affected face huge challenges to be deemed eligible for the scheme in the first instance, and with the costs involved for them to have their houses restored to a livable condition, even if they are eligible for the scheme. That is why we in this party will continue to campaign with the local mica action group and thousands of people not only in my own home county of Donegal but right across the island of Ireland. It was best reflected in the Business Post poll, which showed the people got behind those families, their campaign and their demand, because they can understand the heartbreak those families are going through. The least we can do is ensure that under this legislation, which the Minister knows I do not support, properties affected by mica will not have the local property tax levied on them. These properties are literally crumbling before people's eyes and are in some cases dangerous to inhabit, but the families have no other option but to do so at this point.

Section 18(10D) states that a residential property that has been damaged as a result of the use of defective concrete blocks in its construction will be exempt from local property tax.

That is only if they meet certain conditions, however. These conditions are set out in section 18 and include situations where "the property has been or is being remediated" or, under section 10D(1)(a), if "a confirmation of eligibility in relation to the property has been issued". What does "confirmation of eligibility" mean? Under section 10D(6), "confirmation of eligibility" has the meaning given to it by the regulations that gave effect to the current and flawed redress scheme where the applicant can only have eligibility confirmed once they have made an application to the local authority that includes an engineer’s report confirming damage caused by mica and pyrite.

To spell that out to the Minister, his colleagues on the Government side and those whose homes have been damaged by mica and pyrite, under this legislation homeowners will be required to submit an engineer’s report. At this point, for these homeowners that means forking out €6,000 for that report. To qualify for the LPT exemption, they would have to stump up €6,000. To put it another way, if homeowners whose houses are crumbling around them as a result of the mica scandal are unable to fork out €6,000 from their own pockets for an engineer’s report, they will be charged the tax. They cannot be deemed eligible otherwise, even though their homes are not safe and a physical inspection of their homes can show they have mica and have lost their value. They will not be liveable unless a 100% redress scheme is delivered.

I hope the Minister can see that this situation does not make any sense. Requiring the engineer’s report to qualify for the LPT exemption when such a report currently costs several thousand euro, is nonsensical. It is not only that, however. Even if there was no upfront cost, we expect that will be delivered when the working group completes its work. As I said, however, we need much more than that. We need a 100% redress scheme.

It takes significant time to complete stage one of the application process for eligibility to be determined. It can take a lot of effort and cause much frustration for homeowners as questions and queries are being submitted all the time. I will give an example. The best guesstimate is that approximately 6,000 properties have been impacted by mica in our home county of Donegal. Yet, approximately only a couple of hundred applications were made for eligibility for the scheme. The other 5,000 properties and hundreds on top of that would, therefore, be ineligible for this local property tax exemption. In some cases, if they fall into the category of the 770,000 people who would be subject to an increase, they could see their local charge going up.

For that reason, Deputy Mac Lochlainn and I have tabled amendments from Sinn Féin in order that homeowners affected by issues with mica and pyrite can apply for an exemption through self-assessment, with the Revenue Commissioners putting in place guidelines to police it or look at what is required in terms of the application process. Once the Government has introduced a 100% redress scheme for those homeowners, something for which we will continue to fight and argue, the Revenue Commissioners can look back to verify that those who applied for exemptions through self-assessment were eligible. The amendments we have tabled are sensible and necessary to ensure that homeowners affected by mica are not charged the LPT. I urge the Minister to accept these amendments in the spirit they were put forward.

Amendments Nos. 5, to 7, inclusive, will allow homeowners whose houses have been damaged by mica and pyrite to apply for the exemption for the local property tax on a self-assessed basis. Amendment No. 5 basically adds, "a liable person forms a view that the property has been damaged as a result of the use of defective concrete blocks". Amendment No. 6 will allow for the Revenue Commissioners to draw up the criteria for the application process, including the information the applicant would need to provide. Amendment No. 7 allows for the exemption to last for a period of ten years as opposed to six years under the legislation.

The LPT is self-assessed. That is at the core of this taxation. Anybody who is paying the tax must, therefore, value their property themselves. They must make a determination, using the guidelines outlined by the Revenue Commissioners, by checking properties that sold in their local area and then deciding the value to be placed on their property and the acre that surrounds it. They then submit that to the Revenue Commissioners in good faith and that valuation is placed on the house.

The Revenue Commissioners have the power, however, and have used the power, to ensure that people are not taking a hand and are not abusing this self-assessment system. They have the power to say that a person's valuation is wrong and should have been different, and therefore, his or her tax liability has increased or he or she must pay additional taxation for years in the past. That is fine; that is how it works.

We are not allowing the principle of self-assessment for homes that are uninhabitable as a result of mica, however. We are not allowing people to say theirs is one of the 6,000 homes in County Donegal or the hundreds in counties Mayo, Clare, Sligo or elsewhere that are affected by mica. Homeowners will make the declaration to the Revenue Commissioners that their home is affected and they are, therefore, exempt, in full knowledge that the Revenue Commissioners have their details and application and have waived this tax with regard to their home. If people do not apply for that remediation scheme, which all homeowners will do if it is fit for purpose, Revenue has the power at a later stage to claw back the tax that was foregone because of an exemption that may or should not have been provided at that time. That principle applies to the 1.8 million homes across the State. Why should we not, therefore, also take the homeowners whose houses are affected by pyrite and mica at their word?Let us give the Revenue Commissioners, a body about which I have spoken many times with the highest respect because they do their work very well and diligently, the same power they have for every other home to be able to look back and see if the valuation or exemption was the correct one to apply for.

The Minister might at this point provide clarity on the overpayment of the LPT. He will be familiar with the legislation in 2013 that allowed for the correction of an overvaluation or undervaluation. A person could, for instance, decide that his or her house was valued at a certain level and was, therefore, liable for tax band 3 or €315. However, that person may have found out from local knowledge that it was overvalued and he or and should have been in band 1, which was €90. That person can apply to the Revenue Commissioners and have those years from 2013 up until now reimbursed, which is nine years in total of payments, including 2021. We have facilitated people who have made the wrong valuation in the past.

People with mica would have valued their homes in good faith. Many of those homes were valueless, however. After the passage of this legislation, can they still avail of that facility? A homeowner in Buncrana, Carndonagh or Letterkenny may possibly have valued their house according to a €315 tax band. Because they now know it was affected by mica at that point in 2013, however, they should have valued it much lower. Can they now look for that recoupment?

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