Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 209: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the interpretation of apart-hotel which is included in section 3 of the Valuation Act 2001, as applied by the Valuation Tribunal; the consequences of this interpretation for those properties designated holiday homes under section 268 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31895/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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"Apart-hotel" as defined in section 3 of the Valuation Act, 2001 "means one or more apartments, including any ancillary facilities associated with such apartments, which are used for the purposes of hotel-keeping". It is indicated that the Valuation Tribunal has recently given several judgements in relation to the meaning of "apart-hotel" for the purposes of determining the appropriate rateable valuation to be applied to the relevant properties.

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that for the purposes of tax relief there are no properties that are designated as "holiday homes" as such or as "apart-hotels". Section 268 Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 contains a number of definitions for buildings, known as "industrial buildings" that can qualify for tax relief in the form of capital allowances in respect of the cost of their construction. Included in those definitions are certain buildings that are used as tourist/holiday accommodation. The relevant buildings are:

Hotels;

Guest houses;

Holiday hostels;

Holiday cottages.

To qualify for capital allowances, these buildings must be included in the relevant register maintained by Fáilte Ireland under the Tourist Traffic Acts 1939 to 2003. Where hotels, guest houses, holiday hostels and holiday cottages are registered in the register of hotels, guest houses, holiday hostels or holiday cottages, respectively, section 268 deems them to be in use for the trade of hotel-keeping. However, this is merely a drafting mechanism for granting capital allowances: there is no requirement for the buildings to have any actual connection with a hotel.

During the course of the hearings before the Valuation Tribunal, reference may have been made to the fact that certain buildings were of the type that could qualify for capital allowances. For example, some of the cases involved buildings that were registered in the register of holiday cottages maintained by Fáilte Ireland. However, the definition of "apart-hotel" in the Valuation Act 2001 has no bearing on the interpretation of tourist/holiday accommodation buildings for purposes of determining entitlement to capital allowances. Therefore, any interpretation of "apart-hotel" applied by the Valuation Tribunal does not have any consequences for capital allowances that might be due in relation to certain tourist/holiday accommodation such as registered holiday cottages.