John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I thank Senators Doherty and Cummins for bringing forward this amendment. I accept the Senators' point that it would not be reasonable to require someone to pay the €200 charge where they are away working for part of the time in circumstances where the remainder of their family resides in the family home. Senator Doherty made this same point this morning. I intend to issue guidance to local authorities following the enactment of the Bill. I intend to make it very clear to local authorities that someone who is temporarily away from home for the purposes of work should, nonetheless, be able to nominate the family home as their sole or main residence. I assume the Senator has a case in mind where someone is not permanently away from the family home.

In the circumstances as outlined by Senator Doherty, liability to pay the charge should not arise. I would caution, however, that if the person concerned owned another property which he or she used to live in at their place of work, he or she cannot avail of the exemption for a sole or main residence in respect of two different properties. I clarified this issue for Senator Doherty already and I hope this further explanation provides the clarification he requires.