Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 4, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: “Insertion of new section 10E into Act of 2012

5. The Act of 2012 is amended by the insertion of the following new section after section 10D:

“10E. A residential property that is in an area that has yet to be taken in charge by a local authority shall have a 50 per cent reduction applied to its local property tax liability.”.”.

This amendment is connected to the issue of taking in charge in what are sometimes newer developments or newer estates but, given how slow the process is, are not always newer. It should be a relatively simple and straightforward process. In other countries it does not lead into months, years and decades. In fact, in a lot of other equivalent European countries the equivalent of a taking-in-charge process is completed at the end of the construction of a development within the time of the planning permission. In Ireland, after the development is built, the roads and the public areas are often not handed over to the local authority or taken in charge for decades. This causes huge issues in terms of maintenance, with the maintenance maybe not being done properly or maybe the cost of it being borne by the residents. There are therefore situations where the residents are paying local property tax for maintenance of their public areas and local facilities but are not getting any of that money spent in their local area because it is not taken in charge. Effectively, they are subsidising areas where the facilities are taken in charge.

There are no timelines in legislation on taking in charge these areas. This is something I tried to insert into the Planning and Development Bill that went through the previous Dáil but the Government voted it down. There are no financial incentives for a local authority to take in charge a public area. In fact, there is a financial disincentive, effectively, because it gets 100% of the local property tax that is collected for that area and when it takes it in charge, the process of taking it in charge can be costly for the local authority and the maintenance thereafter is an additional cost. There is therefore actually a financial disincentive for local authorities to do this in a timely manner or quickly. That is one of the reasons this goes on for decades, not just years.

It is often the case, as I am sure the Minister is aware, that when a development is built, couples might move in without children, the area is not taken in charge, the children are born, they go into childcare, preschool, primary school, secondary school and college, they stay at home after college because they cannot find somewhere to rent and then they leave in their mid-20s or late 20s and the area still has not been taken in charge by the local authority, which is something no one would have thought of at the start. There needs to be, in the local property tax, strong financial incentives for local authorities to take these areas in charge. This needs to be addressed. It has not been addressed in the planning legislation. This is an opportunity to address it so I hope the Minister will take this on board.

There is a financial equity issue or a fairness issue here for people who are paying significant management fees. That can be for duplexes or houses where there is really no case for an ongoing payment of management fees. The residents can be paying significant management fees because the areas are not taken in charge and, at the same time, they are paying the full local property tax. I would like serious consideration of this amendment because this issue is unfair and needs to be addressed.

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