Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2013
799. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government with reference to the non-principal private residence charge, if he will advise a person (details supplied) who has moved to Great Britain where he is now working and who now faces a bill that includes arrears; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16758/13]
View answer815. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if an exemption can be provided in respect of a person (details supplied) from accumulated non-principal private residency penalties and charges due to the fact that the person was unaware of the NPPR charge having lived out of the country for a period of twenty years. [16970/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 799 and 815 together.
The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, broadened the revenue base of local authorities by introducing a charge on non-principal private residences. The Charge is set at €200 and liability for it falls, in the main, on owners of rental, holiday and vacant properties. It is a matter for an owner, whether resident in Ireland or elsewhere, to determine if he or she has a liability and, if so, to declare that liability and pay the Charge.
A residential property not in use by an owner as his or her sole or main residence is liable for the Charge. This may not necessarily be a second home; a person may have vacated a property and be living in rented accommodation elsewhere for work or other reasons and in such a case, the property that the owner is no longer living in is liable for the Charge, even if it is the only residential property that person owns.
Under the Act, it is a function of a local authority to collect the Non-Principal Private Residence Charge 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. In this regard, application of the legislation in particular circumstances is a matter for the relevant local authority. Guidelines have issued to local authorities in relation to the operation of the “care and management” provisions of the Local Government (Charges) Act 2009 and local authorities are expected to implement these guidelines appropriately.
