Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 200: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reasons for applying the household charge to persons who also pay a non-residential property tax; if both these payments will be streamlined when the new property tax comes in; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8521/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 and the Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, set out the legislation underpinning the household charge and the charge on non-principal private residences respectively.

Under the legislation, owners of residential property are liable to the household charge, including those persons with a liability to pay the charge on non-principal private residences, unless otherwise exempt.

I have recently established an inter-Departmental expert Group to design an equitable property tax having regard to its terms of reference. This Group has been asked to report to me by end April, 2012. I will then bring proposals to Government for decisions on the structure and modalities of the property tax.

Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the fact that collection of the household charge is vested with the city and county managers, the discretion these managers have regarding unfinished estates and the liability of the persons living in those estates for the household charge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8538/12]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to amend the Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 to provide for an appeals facility regarding inclusion of housing estates on the list of category three and four estates in view of the level of dissatisfaction expressed by residents in some estates at their exclusion from the lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8541/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 201 and 202 together.

As part of the process of preparing the National Housing Development Survey 2011, published by my Department in October 2011, local authorities provided details of all unfinished housing developments in their areas. Unfinished housing developments were divided into four categories as follows:

Category one, where the development is still being actively completed by the developer, or where no serious public safety issues exist;

Category two, where a receiver has been appointed;

Category three, where a receiver has not been appointed and the developer is still in place but effectively inactive; and

Category four, where the development has been effectively abandoned and is posing serious problems for residents

Other relevant factors for the purposes of the categorisation process include, inter alia:

the state of completion of roads, footpaths, public lighting facilities, piped water and sewerage facilities and open spaces or similar amenities within the development;

the extent to which the development complies with the terms of applicable planning permission;

the extent to which it complies with the provisions of the Building Control Acts 1990 and 2007;

the provisions of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act 1964 as they pertain to dangerous places and dangerous structures within the meaning of the Act;

the extent to which facilities within the development have been taken in charge by the local authority concerned and

where there is an agreement regarding the maintenance of such facilities, the extent to which this agreement has been complied with.

In some cases a local authority may have found that conditions in respect of a certain phase of a development were relatively good and that, for example, no serious public safety issues could be identified. This phase of the development may have been categorised under category 1 or 2. Conversely, safety issues may have been identified in another phase of the same overall development, or development in that second phase may have been abandoned altogether, implying a category 3 or 4 identification for that phase.

This categorisation formed the basis for the list of those unfinished developments eligible for a waiver on the annual household charge.

Only households in developments in categories three and four are eligible for the waiver from payment of the household charge. This list of developments in which households are eligible for the waiver in 2012 is set out under the Local Government (Household Charge) Regulations 2012 and forms the complete list of such developments for this year. The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 does not provide for an appeals facility in this regard. A revised list of estates will be prescribed for 2013 after which time the waiver for unfinished housing developments will end. Throughout this period it is anticipated that the numbers of categories 3 and 4 developments will decrease as my Department continues to work with local authorities and other stakeholders to resolve outstanding issues, including through the Public Safety Initiative.