Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:

“Report on the accessibility of the local property tax exemption for those affected by defective concrete blocks

3. The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the accessibility of the local property tax exemption for those affected by defective concrete blocks.”.

This amendment calls on the Minister, within three months of the passing of this Act, to prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the accessibility of the local property tax exemption for those who are affected by the defective concrete blocks crisis, or scandal as it really is. The people who have been affected by defective concrete blocks have been unfairly treated as they have not been offered the same 100% redress as the scheme provided in Dublin and north Leinster. Many homeowners are having to severely dig deep into their own pockets and borrow from others to try to make up the shortfall that is built into the Government's scheme. That can be in the region of between €70,000 and €80,000 or more. Many others simply cannot avail of the scheme because that type of money is not available to them. They cannot get loans for it. There is nobody to borrow from. There is no family to try to help them out with that. That is the injustice of the scheme.

This legislation will increase local property tax on every home across the State. Whether that is by €5 or €250, that is a fact. Everybody is going to pay a bit more at a time when we would argue local property tax should be scrapped. The issue here is that those who live in a defective block house at least should not have to pay local property tax. Many homeowners in the scheme are already dealing with severe financial pressure because they are having to deal with issues with their own homes, which are unsafe and unsound.

There is additional cost in some cases where walls are damp or repairs have to be done to electrics and so on because of ingress of water. We want to ensure no individual affected by defective concrete blocks comes under the local property tax. Under this legislation, the threshold has to be met to get an exemption. Will the Minister outline what that threshold is? There are people, for example, who have defective blocks but are not able to get the certificate because the damage is not severe enough to get on the scheme. Therefore, a notification is not issued under section 15(5), despite the fact they are living in an affected house and impacted by all this. It is about the crack or numerous cracks in the walls and whether they have opened to the degree that a coin can be placed in them. It is said the changes are necessary due to the changes in the scheme. Can the Minister confirm there will still be people who have tested their homes and are living with defective concrete blocks but, because they do not satisfy the damage threshold at this point in time, will have to pay local property tax? Alternatively, will he accept this amendment, which would ensure nobody with defective concrete blocks would pay local property tax.

See this speech in context