Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if homes affected by radon will be exempt from property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12339/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As I have previously advised the Deputy, I have no plans to provide for an exemption from the local property tax for properties affected by radon gas. I am advised by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government that high radon levels in homes are easy to identify and, once identified, are relatively simple to fix. The testing of houses for radon is a relatively straightforward and non-invasive process. It is also inexpensive, with a test costing approximately €56. If radon levels are found to be below the national reference levels, no further action is necessary.

Where radon levels are found to be high, the installation of an active radon sump is the most common and effective remediation method. A sump can be installed within a day and with very little disruption to the house, as the work is carried out outside the house. This method can typically reduce the highest radon concentrations by 90%. An alternative approach is to increase indoor ventilation. This can reduce radon levels by up to 50% and is thus suitable for homes with up to twice the national reference level. The national radon control strategy is the most appropriate way to address the issue of radon contamination and it is not appropriate to provide exemptions from the local property tax to cater for every possible adverse circumstance, particularly one that may be capable of relatively simple remediation.

The local property tax is a self-assessment tax based on the market value of the property. In the first instance it will be a matter for the liable person to calculate the tax due based on his or her assessment of the market value of the property. The presence of radon gas would be one factor that a liable person may take into account in valuing his or her property.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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The key point is the value of the house. People want to live in their houses. Given Revenue's new website, is there not a cavalier attitude to valuations? If the issue is pyrite, radon or an unfinished estate, is it not grossly unfair to be treated the same as an unaffected house? For example, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, published SI 91 on unfinished estates. In the whole of the four Dublin local authority areas, he categorised just a single estate as being exempted from the property tax, namely, Priory Hall.

Many of the Minister's Deputies, who were sitting behind him until a few minutes ago, are very disappointed that the property tax grotesquely impinges on the east Leinster area.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I want to call the Minister to respond.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Is this not one of the problems? The Government has set the tax up with so many imponderables. Undoubtedly, it will be the red hot issue in the next general election on which the Minister's party and, sadly, my party will be thrashed.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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We are not going to get into the next general election.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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He is aware of the issue.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I have called the Minister. Other Deputies wish to contribute.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The tax is based on a self-assessment of the value of the property. If a house has any impairment, be it subject to flooding or a high instance of radon gas, the person assessing the value of his or her home will take it into account. If there is radon in a home and a similar house up the street does not have radon, the value should be marked down when submitting a return to Revenue. This is what Revenue has advised.

The valuations posted by Revenue on its website are for guidance purposes. They are not mandatory valuations. One of the problems experienced in introducing this property tax is the poorness of the available data. Revenue has put a great deal of data together and, generally speaking, its guidance prices are helpful, but they are not mandatory.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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The Minister stated that the tax is based on a self-assessment.

If I own a house in a housing estate where some of the houses have been proven to have pyrite and I put it on the market, even though I might owe €300,000 on it, the highest offer I will get is €100,000 because potential buyers would be suspicious it might have pyrite. Nobody would buy a house at the moment in a housing estate where there is pyrite. Is it okay for me to put the value of my house at the highest offer I get, namely, €100,000 rather than the estimated value of €300,000?

Could the Minister explain why when the household charge was being calculated, more than 40,000 houses were exempt from it because the houses were in unfinished estates yet the figure has now been reduced to approximately 5,000? There has not been a dramatic amount of work done in unfinished estates in the intervening period. How did the number reduce so quickly?

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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On the same issue, any local councillor around the country would tell the Minister that it is a real crisis and that councils are taking a step back because of the exposure to huge financial stress in cases where developers have walked away. It is remarkable that of 770 unfinished ghost estates across the State, only 421 are exempt. That is a big difference from the situation pertaining to the household charge.

We received representations suggesting the Revenue is seeking medical documentation as well as local authority proof in cases of grants received for extensions on the basis of disability. That issue requires immediate clarification. Why would Revenue double-check? The fact the local authority has granted the application should be sufficient proof. I seek clarification from the Minister in that regard.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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No such application has been entertained yet. We can raise the issue with the Revenue but it is news to me that it is happening.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Could the Minister raise the matter with Revenue?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I will. I have not heard it is happening. We will see.

In response to Deputy Wallace’s question on the house valuation, what Revenue says is that it is up to the householder to value the house and return it to Revenue. If the valuation is in its opinion honest, it will be accepted. Obviously, if an estate is one in which pyrite is present in many of the houses and that reduces the value even of houses that do not have a pyrite problem, that seems to be reasonable when one puts in a value. If any question arises, an explanation would be required. It is the same as what I said previously about houses that are subject to flooding that cannot get insurance. While they might be lovely houses to look at, they have a very low market value. The value that goes into the return is the honest opinion of what is the market value. It is only if it is totally out of line with everything else that Revenue will check it out. That is the position. Was another point raised?

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I inquired about the reduction from 40,000 houses to 5,000.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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There was a question about the reduction in the number of houses exempt from the tax.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government came up with the exemptions. What I did in the Act – with the approval of everyone – was to exempt certain categories of house, and we exempted houses in ghost estates. It was then up to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, in consultation with local authorities, to nominate the estates, which is what they have done. I am not second-guessing them. I just do not have the information.