Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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600. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government how many applications have been made to appeal the inclusion of agricultural land in the RZLT; how many have been refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40637/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In relation to the Residential Zoned Land Tax, only land that has been zoned for residential use or for a mixture of uses including residential within a local authority development plan or local area plan, as adopted by the elected members of the local authority, and that is serviced, will potentially fall into scope for the tax. Zoned land that is within the scope of RZLT will be identified on a map prepared by the relevant local authority. Draft and supplemental maps have been prepared and published by local authorities during 2022 and 2023. Each local authority will prepare and publish a final map by 1 December 2023.

According to the figures provided to my Department by local authorities, 1,687 submissions, including requests to amend zoning, were made to local authorities by the end of the public display period for the draft maps on 1 January 2023. A breakdown of this data by planning authority is presented in Table 1.

A total of 85 additional submissions were received on foot of the publication of the supplemental maps. Of these submissions, 39 related to sites that had been previously published on draft maps and as such were not eligible for consideration. Of the 46 eligible submissions received, 8 were requests to local authorities to amend zoning. A breakdown of this data by planning authority is presented in Table 2.

All local authorities had until 1 April 2023, with regard to the Draft Map and 1 August 2023 with regard to the Supplemental Map, to make their determinations regarding all submissions. Owners were entitled to appeal determinations relating to the criteria-based decisions to An Bord Pleanála by 1 May and 1 September 2023, respectively. 611 appeals were made in respective of the Draft map submissions with 21 in respect of the Supplemental maps. An Bord Pleanála has made decisions on 362 appeals, which includes invalid appeals. An Bord Pleanála does not have a role in relation to the requests to amend zonings.

Data regarding the breakdown of differing land uses associated with submissions to local authorities or An Bord Pleanála appeals are not held by my Department and should be sought directly from the relevant local authority or An Bord Pleanála, respectively.

Table 1: Draft Map Submissions

Table 2: Supplemental Map Submissions

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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601. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will comment on the centralisation of local property tax returns with respect to County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40659/23]

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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My Department recently confirmed provisional Local Property Tax (LPT) allocations to all local authorities for 2024. In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government – Our Shared Future; 100% of the estimated LPT yield is now retained locally within the local authority area where it is collected.

Under the current LPT allocation model, every local authority is entitled to receive a minimum amount of funding under the LPT allocation process, known as the baseline. A working group, which included representatives from the local government sector, was set up earlier this year to review and establish a new model to determine LPT baseline funding levels. The review identified that the baseline funding of some local authorities, including Clare County Council, needed adjustment according to the criteria recommended by the working group. In accordance with this baseline review, Clare County Council’s revised baseline allocation for 2024 is €10,179,318.

Equalisation is the process that ensures that all LPT allocations are funded up to the baseline. As a local authority where the expected 2024 yield of €9,738,737 (before any local variation) is less than the baseline, this allocation includes €440,581 equalisation funding in order to ensure that the allocation is at least matched to the baseline.

In addition, every local authority has the power to vary the basic rate of LPT by up to 15%. Clare County Council decided last September to increase its LPT rate by 15% for both 2023 and 2024. Accordingly, Clare County Council will retain an additional resultant estimated income of €1,460,810 for the authorities’ own use in 2024.