Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for making clear his and the Social Democrats' support for the principles underlying local property tax and their support for the value of trying to protect and broaden the tax base.

This amendment would require the Minister for Finance to lay a report before the House compiling statistical information on patterns and quantities of residential property ownership and to set out policy options or recommendations regarding the potential introduction of differential rates of LPT on residential properties owned by persons with two or more such properties. I am advised there are 1.4 million owners of one or two residential properties, 49,000 people who own more than two but fewer than 20 properties, 750 owners of more than 20 but fewer than 50 properties, 186 people who own more than 50 but fewer than 100 properties, and 187 owners of more than 100 properties.

The introduction of differential rates of local property tax would have the potential to make the yield from LPT more volatile if the rates of ownership of more than one property change over time. Having a property tax that is applied in a consistent manner across all properties in the State helps to keep the tax base broad and stable. Moreover, differential rates would add an extra layer of complexity to our tax code and could be difficult to implement.

I have tried to give the Deputy the answer to the queries he raised in his amendment and to outline the policy rationale as to why we should not bring in differential rates of local property tax based on the number of properties owned by a single person. If he has questions like this he wants answered by my Department or by Revenue, I am more than happy at any point to give him that information directly. We should not use legislation as a way of getting that type of information. If the Deputy has queries regarding property ownership or the implementation of the LPT regime, I will either give him the information directly, making it available to him at any time, or, if he wants it made available more formally, I can do so by way of parliamentary questions. I have tried to provide the information he requested in the answer I have just given to the House.

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