Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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445. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if an unfinished estate (details supplied) in County Tipperary is exempt from the local property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49133/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Under Section 10 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 a waiver from liability can arise for properties located in developments prescribed on a list made by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government where the Minister is satisfied that the developments on the list are incomplete to a substantial extent, having regard to the condition of public infrastructure and amenities, including access, water services, public lighting and amenity areas. The function of designating developments eligible for the waiver is reserved to the Minister. 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. The survey 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 the survey was different to that which was used in 2011 and which provided the basis for the waiver from the household charge. The 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 2012 survey was based purely and objectively on the actual state of completion of a development. Only developments that were deemed by local authorities to be in a “seriously problematic condition”, regardless of whether a developer was on or off site, were included in the LPT regulations. Longfield Park, Boherlahan, Cashel, Co. Tipperary was not included in the list of developments deemed by South Tipperary County Council to be in a seriously problematic condition in its February 2013 return to the Department and, as such, is not eligible for an exemption from the Local Property Tax.