Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 March 2015
245. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason a letter from the Pyrite Remediation Board, stating that a house is scheduled for remediation due to severe damage, would not suffice as proof that it suffered significant pyritic damage to claim an exemption from the local property tax from the Revenue Commissioners. [12481/15]
View answerSection 10A of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) provides for a temporary exemption of at least three consecutive years from the charge to Local Property Tax (LPT) for residential properties that have been certified as having “significant pyritic damage”.
To avail of the exemption, the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Pyrite Exemption) Regulations 2013 require that a liable person be in a position to demonstrate 'significant pyritic damage' to his/her property, i.e. the property must-
(a) have a Damage Condition Rating of 2 or a Damage Condition Rating of 1 (with progression) established on foot of a Building Condition Assessment carried out by a competent person under and in accordance with I.S. 398 -1:2013 Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and Categorisation, and
(b) have sub-floor hardcore material classified, by the appropriate competent person(s), as susceptible to significant or limited expansion, established on foot of testing the sub-floor hardcore material.
The legislation in this area is consistent with the recommendation set out in the Report of the Pyrite Panel (July 2012) which recommended that an exemption from the LPT should be provided for dwellings where damage from pyritic heave has been proven by testing.
Nevertheless, having regard to the above requirements and, more specifically, to the costs associated with testing, my Department is engaging with the Department of Finance to explore possible alternatives to the requirement for testing. In this context, I understand that my colleague, the Minister for Finance, has initiated a review of the operation of the LPT. I understand that the review will primarily have regard to recent residential property price developments, the overall yield from LPT and the desirability of achieving relative stability in LPT payments. The review will also address a number of issues which have arisen in relation to the efficient and effective administration of the LPT, among which is likely to be the matter of the operation of the pyrite exemption provisions.
