Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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412. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will amend the unfinished housing estates waiver list for the household charge to include a housing estate (details supplied) in County Kildare, in view of the fact that this housing estate was included in a waiver list for the local property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39737/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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As part of the process of preparing the National Housing Development Survey 2011, local authorities provided details of all unfinished housing developments in their areas. The list of developments in which households are eligible for the waiver in 2012 is set out under the Local Government (Household Charge) (Amendment) Regulations 2013.

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.

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.

An exemption from the local property tax applies to developments listed in the schedule to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013. The list of unfinished housing developments eligible for the exemption was compiled by local authorities utilising the categorisation employed for the purposes of the National Housing Survey 2012, which was carried out over the course of summer 2012 by my Department in conjunction with local authorities and the Housing Agency.

The categorisation methodology for this survey was different to that which was used in 2011 and which provided the basis for the waiver from the household charge. That earlier categorisation related largely to the level of on-site activity at the time the 2011 survey was carried out and had less to do with the physical character of a development. The development at The Paddocks, Kildangan, Co. Kildare was categorised by Kildare County Council as Category 2 in the 2011 National Housing Development Survey and accordingly was not eligible for a waiver on the annual Household Charge. It was, however, categorised by the local authority as qualifying for an exemption from the Local Property Tax.