Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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123. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of dwellings that were issued with local property tax assessment forms; the number of returns that have been received broken down between post and online; and the way he proposes to deal with the back-log. [23662/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that Local Property Tax (LPT) Returns, personalised letters and an LPT Guide have issued to owners of 1.66 million residential properties either by post or by way of their ROS (Revenue Online Service) inbox. The Commissioners have confirmed that in excess of 948,522 LPT Returns have been filed up to close of business on Monday, 20 May 2013. This represents 57% of the total Returns issued. Of the returns received, 657,157 we re filed electronically and 291,365 were paper returns.

I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that all paper LPT returns and payments are processed on the date received. All LPT returns and payments received online are processed in real time and a property owner's record is seamlessly updated with the relevant details. Where any issues arise with the LPT information supplied by taxpayers, I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they have a dedicated team whose task is to resolve these matters in a timely manner. I am also advised that all staff resources will be available in the run-up to the on-line filing deadline of 28 May to deal with the likely increased filing rate over the course of the final few days.

I am very satisfied with how the Revenue Commissioners have, to date, addressed the various challenges associated with implementing LPT and I am confident that they will re-double their efforts over the final few days to optimise Returns filing and payment compliance.