Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators for their constructive and thoughtful contributions to the Bill. Rather than attempt to respond to each point on Second Stage I can do this in response to Senators' amendments on Committee Stage. I will respond, however, to a few points. Senator Leyden spoke about the sale of local authority properties. Later this afternoon I will be leading Report and Final Stages of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 in this House. I initiated the legislation here and it has been through the Dáil. There have been several attempts over the past 20 or 25 years to introduce a scheme for the sale of local authority flats and apartments. That will be introduced when this Bill is passed this afternoon. It gives people an opportunity to buy the flats or apartments they occupy or those they will occupy.

That Bill also includes a new provision called the incremental purchase scheme. For the first time people will be able to buy a council house on the day they enter it. I have always thought that instead of waiting three or five years to sell a council house to a tenant we should give that person the opportunity of becoming the owner on day one and give him or her responsibility for insurance and maintenance and so on. That will be introduced as a pilot scheme straightaway. The tenant purchase scheme administered through the local authority systems will continue.

Senator Norris spoke about heritage houses. There is an exemption in the legislation for those who are deemed exempt under the relevant legislation. He also spoke about mobile homes. There will be an amendment dealing with them. The Senator asked how this would affect the Travelling community. That would not arise because the mobile home is a Traveller's primary residence.

I take Senator Quinn's point about tourism which is a vital component of revenue. The more people holiday at home and use the facilities we have here the less money leaves the country and more comes into the Exchequer. He asked whether timber homes were different from mobile homes. Those on fixed foundations will be deemed to be homes. Anything that can be moved by crane or whatever will be deemed a mobile home.

Senator O'Donovan asked what deems a house habitable. Some of the greatest destruction in the 1950s and 1960s occurred when people removed not only chimneys but also roofs in order to avoid paying rates. The roofs of some fine buildings were removed allowing rain to damage the structure. I hope local authorities will take a practical view of this provision.

With regard to private rental accommodation, earlier in the year I brought forward new regulations on standards for rented houses. These apply to all private rental accommodation and most of them are now law. Those not yet in place require structural work to be completed. One part, which will take four years to implement, deals with my intention that bedsits in cities, particularly Dublin, will no longer be part of the housing structure. I could not introduce their exclusion immediately because too much cost was involved. I have provided for a four year lead-in period for people to carry out the important structural work involved.

The Bill is relatively direct, and straight forward legislative measures will apply, broadly speaking, to the owners of non-principal private residences. In my view, those of us fortunate enough to own a second property should not find the obligation to pay €200 per year towards services provided by local authorities unduly burdensome. The Bill is estimated to generate approximately €40 million annually for the local government sector. Its importance is not adequately reflected in the amount of revenue to which it will give rise, rather it represents a new genuinely local source of funding for local authorities and reduces their dependence on central Government. This is a very important principle which we should welcome.

It has been said that the ideal taxation measure is equitable, simple and flexible. The Local Government (Charges) Bill scores well under the criteria of simplicity and flexibility. It is simple and cost effective to administer and it will be simple to understand and comply with. It will generate revenue on a continuing basis and will not be subject to the volatility we have come to associate with transactions based on property taxes. In this sense, it has the flexibility to cope with the varying economic conditions while maintaining a stable yield. It must be acknowledged that the Bill does not include a valuation-based component, something which would make the system far more complex and difficult to administer and comply with. Against this, the amount of the charge is relatively modest at €200. At least it can hardly be described as inequitable given the amount of the charge involved.

I look forward to a high compliance rate with the obligation to pay the charge. This is in everybody's interest. The point was made that it is simple common sense to pay it when it falls due. Evasion will incur significant late payment fees which will have to be paid at some point. The longer the delay in paying the charge, the more expensive the late payment fees will become and the resale of the property is likely to prove exceptionally difficult if the charges and late payment fees are left outstanding.

I thank Senators for their contributions to the debate.