Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 491: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of households registered for the household charge; the number of these registrations entitled to waivers; the amount of money that has been raised to date by these registrations. [21996/12]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 492: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of households in the State; the number of households liable to register for the household charge; the number of these entitled to waivers and the number of households exempt from the household charge and to detail the waivers and exemptions under the different categories. [21997/12]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 493: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the data he is using to calculate the number of households in the State for the purpose of collecting the household charge. [21998/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 491 to 493, inclusive, together.

The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 provides the legislative basis for the household charge. Under the Act, an owner of a residential property on the liability date of 1 January 2012 is liable to pay the household charge, unless otherwise exempted or entitled to claim a waiver. The household charge is on a self-assessment basis and it is a matter for an owner of a residential property on the liability date to determine if he/she has a liability and, if so, to declare that liability and pay the household charge.

The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) is administering the household charge system on a shared service/agency basis for all county and city councils. I understand, from data provided by the LGMA, that as of 30 April, 2012, a total of 737,946 property declarations have been processed by the household charge bureau. 722,610 registered for payment of the charge equating to some €72.5m. 15,336 residential property owners have registered for a waiver from payment of the charge. In addition, 178,000 postal applications have been received in the household charge bureau, which have yet to be processed; these equate to a further €17.8m. A further 15,500 declarations have been received by local authorities equating to some €1.5m. This gives a total number of 931,446 declarations made equating to €91.8m. According to Census 2011, there are 1,649,408 households in permanent housing units in the State.

The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 provides for a number of exemptions and waivers from payment of the household charge. The exemptions from payment of the household charge are -

· Residential properties that are part of the trading stock of a business and have not been sold or been the source of any income since construction,

· Residential property owned by a Minister of the Government, a housing authority or the Health Service Executive,

· Voluntary and co-operative housing,

· Residential property subject to commercial rates and wholly used as a dwelling,

· Residential property owned by certain charities or discretionary trusts, and

· Residential property which an owner has vacated due to long-term mental or physical infirmity (e.g. elderly person that has moved into a nursing home).

The waivers which apply concern -

· Owners of residential property entitled to mortgage interest supplement, and

· Owners of houses in certain unfinished housing estates.

There are an estimated 50,000 entitled to claim waivers from payment of the household charge; some 18,000 in respect of entitlement to mortgage interest supplement and 32,000 in the context of unfinished housing estates.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 494: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons who registered for the household charge that registered multiple properties; the details of the numbers of properties registered in these cases. [21999/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 provides the legislative basis for the household charge. Under the Act, an owner of a residential property on the liability date of 1 January 2012 is liable to pay the household charge, unless otherwise exempted or entitled to claim a waiver. The household charge is on a self-assessment basis and it is a matter for an owner of a residential property on the liability date to determine if he/she has a liability and, if so, to declare that liability and pay the household charge.

The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) is administering the household charge system on a shared service/agency basis for all county and city councils. The information requested in respect of declarations processed to date, which has been complied by the Local Government Management Agency, is set out in the following tables. The data do not include 193,500 declarations which have been made but have not yet been processed by the LGMA.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 495: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the National Asset Management Agency properties have been registered for the household charge and if so, the number of properties registered in this category; if any of these properties are eligible for a waiver and if so, the number of same. [22000/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 and the Local Government (Household Charge) Regulations 2012 provide the legislative basis for the household charge. The household charge is on a self assessment basis and interpretation of the legislation is a matter for legal advice in individual cases and ultimately a matter for the Courts.

Section 2 of the Act provides the meaning of residential property for the purposes of the legislation. Section (2)(2)(a) provides that a building—

(i) from which no income has been derived since the building's construction,

(ii) that, since the building's construction, has never been used as a dwelling, and

(iii) that forms part of the trading stock of a business as defined in section 2(3),

is not a residential property for the purposes of the Act.

The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 provides for a number of exemptions and waivers from payment of the household charge. The exemptions from payment of the household charge are -

· Residential properties that are part of the trading stock of a business and have not been sold or been the source of any income since construction,

· Residential property owned by a Minister of the Government, a housing authority or the Health Service Executive,

· Voluntary and co-operative housing,

· Residential property subject to commercial rates and wholly used as a dwelling,

· Residential property owned by certain charities or discretionary trusts, and

· Residential property which an owner has vacated due to long-term mental or physical infirmity (e.g. elderly person that has moved into a nursing home).

The waivers which apply concern -

· Owners of residential property entitled to mortgage interest supplement, and

· Owners of houses in certain unfinished housing estates.