Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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113. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will address an issue with regard to a change in the property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7781/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Finance Act 2016 was enacted on 25 December 2016 as a result of it being signed by the President on that day.  This was the day on which many of the Act's provisions came into operation. Finance Act 2016 does not contain any such provisions referred to by the Deputy in relation to either capital gains tax or local property tax. However, section 52 of the Act, which made changes to a capital acquisitions tax exemption that applies in relation to gifts and inheritances of dwelling houses in certain circumstances, came into operation on 25 December 2016. I believe that this is the matter about which the Deputy is seeking clarification. The changes made to the 'dwelling house' exemption have two principal effects.

Firstly, the dwelling house exemption is only available for inheritances. With one exception, it is no longer possible to receive a tax-free gift of a dwelling house. The exception is where a person gifts a dwelling house to a dependent relative. For this purpose, a dependent relative is a direct relative of the donor, or of the donor's spouse or civil partner, who is permanently and totally incapacitated because of physical or mental infirmity from maintaining himself or herself or who is over the age of 65.

Secondly, the inherited dwelling house must have been the deceased person's principal private residence at the date of his or her death. This requirement is relaxed in situations where the deceased person had to leave the house before the date of death because of ill health; for example, to live in a nursing home.