Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an mBille. Seo ceist atá tógtha agam sa Seanad go minic. Táim ag déanamh gur thóg mé an cheist trí uair ó deineadh na fógraí sa cháinaisnéis dheireanach anuraidh. Ach roimhe seo, bhí sé tógtha agam ag iarraidh ar an Aire Airgeadais Bille mar seo a chur chun tosaigh. Os as Tír Chonaill i nDún na nGall mé, tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an comhairle contae ansin iontach gníomhúil ag iarraidh go dtugfar isteach an levy seo. Tá siad ag obair chuige sin ar feadh go leor blianta. Tá a fhios agam go raibh mall air go dtí seo, cé gur dúradh san Indecon report i 1992 go mbeadh a leithéid de rud ann. I welcome this Bill and I commend the Minister for bringing it forward. I have raised the issue on many occasions in the House since the announcement was made in the budget that the Bill should be brought forward. I was dissatisfied that it had taken so long to bring this legislation before the House.

I refer the Minister to the legislative programme for the Seanad this week which is absolutely crazy. We have gone through weeks with no legislation and instead have had statements on this, that and the other, and we are now rushing through with nine pieces of legislation this week. This does not make any sense but that is a debate for another day. This Bill is good legislation although I would like to see it amended. I will discuss amendments on Committee Stage and I will raise some of them with the Minister today.

I raised this issue before the Government ever made the announcement because I have strong views on the matter. Holiday homes in particular should pay a rate towards the contribution made to them by local authorities such as the provision of water, roads, sewerage and all the other amenities they use. I raised this issue with the Minister for Finance and he was not disposed at the time but I am pleased that the Minister and his Department have seen the need to introduce this charge. One of the key areas of concern to me was that local authorities would be able to retain the revenue collected within their administrative area. When I raised this matter in the House as a matter on the Adjournment it was clear that this was not the first option which would be considered. I am glad the Minister has decided on the right course of action for which he is to be commended.

I am pleased the Minister will introduce an amendment to exempt caravans as that makes sense.

Regarding some of the other issues in the Bill, as a Donegal Senator, and probably from a selfish point of view, I have raised on a number of occasions the amount of money Donegal could accrue from this scheme. Last year I calculated that just over 23,000 properties in Donegal would come under this scheme. We have the highest number of holiday homes in the country, at 8,275, and that is the ones that are built. Planning permission has been granted for approximately another 1,000 that have not yet been constructed. We have the sixth highest number of occupied rental properties in the State, at 4,232, and 10,768 non-principal private residences, or second houses, which is the largest number in the State after the cities of Cork, Dublin and Galway. That is a total of over 23,000, which would bring in €4.655 million to the local authority if all those properties were levied.

In the budget it was announced that €40 million would be accrued from this levy. I thought that was a lazy calculation because I presume what was looked at were the rental properties in the State and that figure was multiplied by €200, but it did not take account of the vacant houses and holiday homes. I am glad the Oireachtas Library and Research Service has confirmed the figures I was using, which is that it would bring in over €90 million if all properties were levied and €4.6 million for Donegal County Council. That will go some way to meeting the needs of the county.

The Minister will be aware that many people were made redundant in Donegal County Council. We are facing major challenges and I am very disappointed that a Government decision did not come from the Cabinet yesterday on the €1 million bill from the council to deal with the flooding that occurred in Gweedore. That is a separate issue which I, my colleague, Senator Ó Domhnaill, and others will continue to raise in trying to ensure that money is forthcoming.

I want to make a number of points about the advertising campaign. The Minister said that the date set is 31 July. I presumed it would be September or a later date because 30 days is a short period of time. I am not sure if the computer programme has been built. Are there plans afoot to have the advertising campaign rolled out? How will that advertising campaign be rolled out? In particular I would like information on where that advertising campaign will be rolled out. I gave the Minister statistics in terms of Donegal. Many of the holiday homes in Donegal are owned by people who reside in the Six Counties. Will there be a concentrated focus on advertising in that area to bring to people's attention that this levy is now in place?

Senator Coffey raised the other problem, namely, who should collect the money? I believe it should be the local authorities but that calls into question difficulties being experienced by local authorities. I spoke to someone in the manager's office earlier today who said that people are being moved left, right and centre. People are now doing two jobs and covering many bases because of the difficulties being experienced by local authorities in laying off temporary workers. There is a recruitment ban in place but the local authority may need to recruit somebody to oversee the collection of these charges. That is something that must be dealt with by the Minister's Department to allow local authorities recruit somebody on a permanent basis from the moneys they collect. I cannot see how they can do it under their current complement and it would be wrong, because it is a big job in terms of following up on these charges, that no one person would be responsible for it. From my experience in Donegal and listening to members of local authorities in other counties, I am aware there is no more meat on the bones, so to speak, in local authorities. They are pared down to the bone and we must ensure they have that staff complement to assist them in the collection of these charges.

I have a number of concerns about the exemptions in the Bill, which I will outline. For example, many people have houses with built on granny flats, as they are known, to house an elderly parent. Under this legislation owners of houses with built on self-contained flats, which are usually sons or daughters, must pay €200. That is wrong and I would like to see that exempt.

To give another example, in my area of Donegal 10,000 people have lost their jobs in the past year but there has always been a tradition of people working away from home. Under this legislation somebody who owns a house in Gweedore, The Rosses or wherever and is married with children but who works five days a week in the construction industry in Dublin or Galway must pay €200 on the family home where his wife and children live. I see some people are nodding their heads but on my reading of the legislation if one is the owner of the property one is subject to this charge, unless one resides in that property. If there is co-ownership the charge is divided equally between the two co-owners. I refer to an owner living away from home and it is not his or her main residence. If he or she is working in Phibsboro, Cabra or wherever and renting a property five or six days a week while his home lays empty, he or she is subject to that charge. If that is not the case I would welcome that but I suspect it is the case.

I also have a problem with the family home issue. There is a deep attachment in rural Ireland to the family home. It is the house where the siblings were born. The mother and father have passed away and the family home is left usually to all the children. The home is not occupied or used but there is an attachment to it on the part of the family members. One can see them throughout rural Ireland. They are kept in good order but no one no longer resides in them. I am concerned that the family home would be subject to this charge as well. We need to examine the provision of an exemption to ensure that family homes, if they are not used as a holiday home or for rental purposes, are not levied with this charge. We all know the small houses in rural Ireland. They have electricity connected to them. Nobody lives in them but the sons and daughters paint the houses and keep them in good order because they have an emotional attachment to them. If they are levied €200 per year over the next 20 years, those family members will have to make a choice and I do not want to see them knock down these houses because they are part of the fabric of rural Ireland. There must be some provision we can put into the legislation to ensure that anomaly is dealt with.

The other issue concerns elderly persons living on their own who move to a nursing home as a result of a long-term illness and their houses are then subject to this levy. We must consider bringing forward an amendment to deal with that issue because if the owner of the house is in a nursing home on a permanent basis he or she is subject to this levy.

I commend the Minister on bringing forward his own amendment on the carbons issue.

I will seek to bring forward another amendment, and I am glad the Minister mentioned it in his contribution because it is a missed opportunity. I believe that local authorities should set this rate. It is within the Minister's gift and it is proper that initially the Government sets the rate at €200, but we should give local authorities the power to decide the rate from now on, and we should do that now. There should not be a need to come back, as the Minister announced, to re-examine this issue. We allow local authorities decide the rates for small and medium enterprises, corner shops, barbers, restaurants and multinational companies, and we should trust them enough to allow them to set the rate, whether it is increases or decreases, on holiday homes, second homes and rental properties. If that power was given to them it would be welcomed by local authorities throughout the State. I hope to hear from the Minister that he is disposed to that idea, although perhaps not now. Is there something we can write into the legislation that would allow the Minister to do that by way of ministerial order? There should be a stronger commitment to doing that.

I welcome the legislation, which will help struggling local authorities. There will be many challenges in terms of collecting the rates. It will be easier to collect from the rental sector but challenges will be faced in terms of the holiday home and the vacant house sector, and we will need to keep a close eye on that. I am also concerned about the cost of collecting the charges. A review mechanism should be built into the legislation to ensure that local authorities do not spend 25% of the income from charges on administration. Best practice should be shared among local authorities. Collection methods will vary because the types of dwellings will vary in different areas.

I thank the Minister for the legislation. I will bring forward amendments on Committee Stage.