Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if he will confirm if all houses within estates affected by pyrite will be exempt from property tax; if he will confirm if he is insisting on homeowners having fully certified pyrite test complete before being able to apply for exemption to property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14608/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Section 10A of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) provides for an exemption for a temporary period from the charge to Local Property Tax (LPT) for residential properties that have been certified as having significant pyritic damage. I am advised that the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government will be making regulations shortly setting out the methodology for the assessment of dwellings to establish significant pyritic damage. The primary route for homeowners to demonstrate significant pyritic damage, in order to claim an exemption from the LPT, will be in accordance with the recently published standard by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, IS 398 – Reactive Pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1. This standard provides guidance on the visual condition assessment, sampling regime and testing to be carried out. The standard must be used for all assessment and testing undertaken after its publication date of 29 January 2013. The Revenue Commissioners will not be carrying out tests for pyrite.

It is possible that some of the testing carried out prior to the publication of IS 398 may meet the requirement of the standard; however, there may be a need for some additional testing or interpretation of the testing results by a geologist. In addition to testing, a visual condition assessment will be required to be carried out by an engineer or other competent professional to demonstrate significant pyritic damage.

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the exemption cannot be claimed until such time as a certificate verifying the required level of pyrite damage has been issued by a suitably qualified professional. The exemption will then apply for a temporary period of approximately three years, starting with the first liability date occurring after a certificate has been issued. If a certificate has not been issued before the first or second liability dates of 1 May 2013 and 1 November 2013, a liable person will have the option, where the certificate is issued on or before 31 December 2013, to retrospectively elect for one or other of those dates to be the first liability date of the exemption period. If a liable person makes such an election on or before 31 January 2014, any LPT that has already been paid in respect of one or both of those liability dates (depending on which date is selected) will then be repaid to the liable person by the Revenue Commissioners.