Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In my view, this amendment is very relevant. As I see it, there are two issues involved here. People with mortgages do not own their homes because the banks have a hold over them. The level of a person's mortgage generally reflects his or her wealth. In general, those who have high mortgages are first-time buyers. A person who sells his or her home for ¤200,000 and has a mortgage on it of ¤180,000, will only retain ¤20,000 from that sale. The legislation as currently drafted is a disincentive to any person who wants to upgrade his or her property. The property tax is fixed until 2016, with local authorities having the power to increases or decrease this by 15% in 2015. However, where an individual makes improvements to his or her home between now and 2016 this will add value to the property.

The particular group of people that comes to mind in terms of adaptations to property is the disabled. While grants for such adaptations are small they are of benefit to disabled people who cannot go upstairs and need to install a walk-in shower or bathroom downstairs. Where this is done, value will be added to the property. Post-2016 the saleable value of that home will have increased, resulting in an increase in property tax liability under this legislation. There is a need for a provision to protect the elderly and disabled in terms of adaptations to their properties. These people do not undertake adaptations to add value to their homes rather they undertake them for mobility purposes. The alternative for such people is to go into a nursing home, at a cost to the State of at least ¤1,300 or ¤1,400 per week in respect of any publicly funded nursing home in this country. It would be crazy to ask these people to pay more when they are saving the State money in the long term. Perhaps the Minister would consider an exemption for the disabled and elderly.