Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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920. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the reason for the levying of a charge in respect of a community group (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20867/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, provides the legislative basis for the Non-Principal Private Residence (NPPR) Charge. The NPPR Charge, which has since been discontinued, applied in the years 2009 to 2013 to any residential property in which the owner did not reside as their normal place of residence. The NPPR Charge is based on self-declaration and therefore the onus is on the property owner themselves to register their property and make the payment.

A number of exemptions from the charge are set out in section 4 of the 2009 Act. Section 4(1)(b) of the Act provides that discretionary trusts within the meaning of section 2 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 or bodies corporate that are accorded charitable status under tax law (section 848A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (as amended)) are not required to pay the NPPR charge for residential properties that they own.

The 2009 Act places the Charge under the care and management of the local authorities and application in particular circumstances is a matter for the relevant local authority. Under section 77 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, my Department issued guidance to local authorities concerning matters relating to arrears of the NPPR Charge and late payment fees to ensure that a consistent national approach is adopted. The guidelines, which are available at encourage local authorities to take a proactive approach to ensure that any outstanding NPPR liabilities are discharged in the most equitable, efficient and economically beneficial manner and include guidance in respect of dealing with hardship cases. It is expected, in the majority of cases, that local authorities will collect the full NPPR Charge liability from owners. In some cases, this may be by means of arrangement by installment. All non-compliant owners or owners with queries should log on to or, alternatively, contact their local authority to discuss any matters they wish to clarify and to make any outstanding payments.