Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 January 2013
35. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if a detailed regulatory impact assessment was made in advance of the introduction of the local property tax; if so, if it will be made available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1933/13]
View answerThe Local Property Tax was legislated for by way of The Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012. Paragraph 2.20 of the revised Regulatory Impact Assessment guidelines, published in June 2009 and available athttp://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Publications/Publications_Archive/Publications_2011/Revised_RIA_Guidelines_June_2009.pdf, states that it is not compulsory to apply a regulatory impact assessment to a Finance Bill. In addition, paragraph 2.21 of the guidelines states: the publication of a RIA may not be appropriate in the case of tax law/ regulations or the imposition of charges because of their sensitivity and the need to guard against possible evasion or avoidance.
The inter-Departmental group, chaired by Dr Don Thornhill, which considered the design of a property tax (the ‘Thornhill Group’) and reported to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, consulted and received submissions from a number of interested parties during its deliberations. The names of the bodies and individuals who made submissions are contained in an Appendix to the report, which is available at http://www.environ.ie/en/PublicationsDocuments/FileDownLoad,31669,en.Pdf.
