Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2019
91. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Finance the situations in which a householder with a house that has pyrite will be given an exemption from property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37856/19]
View answerThe pyrite exemption is intended to apply to those properties that have a significant level of pyrite damage. This means that not all properties that are affected by pyrite are eligible for the exemption. Under the relevant legislation, a property that has been damaged by pyrite is eligible for the LPT exemption where any one of the following conditions is met:
1. A certificate of damage has been completed by a competent person,
2. It has been accepted into the pyrite remediation scheme operated by the Pyrite Resolution Board,
3. An insurance company has remedied it or provided sufficient funds to carry out the remediation, or
4. The builder who built the property has remediated it or provided sufficient funds to carry out the remediation.
Property owners claiming the exemption under 1. above must provide a certificate to Revenue, which is completed in accordance with I.S. 398-1.2013 as set down by the then Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in Statutory Instrument (SI) No 147 of 2013. Property owners claiming the exemption under 2. to 4. above must provide appropriate supporting documentation.
Once granted, the exemption becomes applicable from the following 1 November and normally remains in place for a period of six years. The Finance (Local Property tax) Act 2012 (as amended) does not provide entitlement to the exemption for any years previous to a property being accepted as having significant pyritic damage, or in circumstances where the pyritic damage was remediated prior to the introduction of LPT on 1 July 2013.
However, usually the presence of pyrite, whether it has already caused structural damage to a property or has the potential to cause such damage, will have a negative effect on the market value of the property. This may result in a reduced LPT liability for the affected property, depending on the chargeable value that was declared for the property for LPT purposes on the current valuation date of 1 May 2013.
