Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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291. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the liability due by a person that has not paid the non-principal private residence charge since it was first introduced; the amount due for each year; the amount of late payment fees or additional charges that have been added to this; the total amount that is due by any person who has not made any payment to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37451/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, provides the legislative basis for the Non-Principal Private Residence 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 self-assessed charge is set at €200 per annum and liability for it falls, in the main, on owners of rental, holiday and vacant properties. It is a matter for an owner to determine if he or she has a liability and, if so, to declare that liability and pay the Charge and any late payment fees applicable. Under the Act, it is a function of a local authority to collect Non-Principal Private Residence Charges, and late payment fees due to it and all Charges and late payment fees imposed and payable to a local authority are under the care and management of the local authority concerned. Section 6 of the 2009 Act, as amended, provides that the owner of a liable property who fails to pay the Charge, in addition to him or her being liable to pay the Charge, is liable to pay to the relevant local authority a €20 late payment fee in respect of each month or part of a month in which the Charge, any late payment fee, or any part of such Charge or fee, remains unpaid.

Part 12 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014 also deals with the collection of undischarged liabilities relating to the NPPR Charge. The Act provided for a period from 2 March 2014 to 31 August 2014 during which time no new late penalties were applied to existing liabilities. If payment was not made in full or if settlement terms were not agreed by the end of that period, an additional late payment fee of €120 per liability date applied on 1 September 2014. As the Charge applied in each of the years from 2009 to 2013, there were five liability dates - 31 July 2009 and 31 March for each of the years 2010 to 2013. In addition to this late payment fee to be applied per liability date, the entire NPPR liability is then increased by a factor of 50% and frozen; the legislation does not provide for further penalties to apply after this date.

The table outlines the liabilities of property owners who have not discharged their NPPR Charge. No additional late payment fees apply in subsequent years as the liability is frozen as of 1 September 2014.