Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The decision to apply the tax to all owners of property, including local authorities, is contrary to the Thornhill advice. We have done so in the interests of fairness between different householders. Those Members who are practising and practical politicians know the situation in private and public housing estates. In publicly provided estates, when families move to the second generation many buy out the lease. Tenant purchase has turned tenancies into owner-occupier situations. It is a great scheme, which I support fully, and it runs to between 80% and 85% on the estates I know best. I did not want to differentiate between those who have bought out their houses and those next door who are still renting. Some people would be paying while others were not. It is an underlying principle of the Bill that everybody makes some contribution, no matter how small. Those Members who are practising and practical politicians know there is even greater aggravation in private housing estates on which local authorities have acquired houses which they provide to social housing tenants. I approve of that policy. For too long, we differentiated between people on the basis of where they lived. To integrate housing is sound social policy, but I do not want to aggravate those situations which are already difficult by providing that those who bought houses on an estate pay a property tax while a handful of local authority tenants do not. It is the owner who pays, not the occupier, which means the local authority is liable. If that leads to a circular payment, it is worth doing in the interest of social harmony. If a local authority wishes to recover the charge, it is for that body to do so. The rate will be ¤1 or ¤2 per week and it will be for the local authority to raise its rents by that amount. I am conscious that adjustment of rents is a reserved function of the elected members of local authorities, not the manager. I am also conscious of the fact that in the real world, local councils will play political games with such decisions. It is for that reason that the onus will be on a local authority to write a cheque to Revenue on the basis of the quantum of houses it owns. It will be up to the members to decide. Some very wealthy local authorities which receive significant sums from the new tax may decide not to pass on the charge to tenants. Others may have to do so. It will be a matter for local discretion. The many Members who know their communities will know exactly what I am talking about.

I would like to treat those voluntary housing associations which are analogous to local authorities - providing houses to people who could be housed by the latter and pay rent in the same way - in the same way I have outlined in respect of local authorities. However, the voluntary housing sector provides other categories of accommodation also. Across rural Ireland, there are schemes provided by communities with grants from the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, including homes for the elderly. Members will know those clusters of nine to 15 houses with a community centre at their heart. I wish to exempt those schemes. Therefore, I wish to distinguish on the basis of tenancy and use between the housing provided by voluntary agencies. On Second Stage in the Dáil, I discussed refining that approach. I have an idea of the general outline of the approach to take but I need to think about it between now and the Finance Bill. I must ensure that what I propose is as focused as I intend.