Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 313: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding the non principal private residence charge on a property which is the only property owned by a person, and is unoccupied in view of the fact that this person is outside of the State on contract or additional training connected to their employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6372/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, broadened the revenue base of local authorities by introducing a charge on non-principal private residences. The charge is set at €200 and liability for it falls, in the main, on owners of rental, holiday and vacant properties.

The 2009 Act is structured from a starting position of a universal liability for the charge in respect of all residential property. Liability arises each year on a point-in-time basis, which is 31 March in each year. A number of exemptions from the charge are provided for in the Act, the most significant being where a property is an owner's sole or main residence.

In a situation where a person owns a property in which he or she does not live and his or her sole or main residence is another property, there may be a liability for the non-principal private residence charge in respect of the property owned by the person, unless it is otherwise exempted under section 4 of the Act.

The Act places the charge under the care and management of the local authorities, and application in particular circumstances is a matter for the relevant local authority. Interpretation of the legislation is a matter for legal advice in individual cases and ultimately a matter for the Courts.