The decision to defer the introduction of a residential zoned land tax shows that the Government is not serious about tackling the housing crisis, according to Social Democrats TD Cian O\u2019Callaghan.<\/p>\n
Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on housing, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government\u2019s cynical U-turn on this tax, which was due to be introduced next February, is nothing more than a blatant attempt to win votes in rural Ireland in the run up to the general election.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is arguing that farmers should be penalised by the introduction of this key piece of legislation, which is aimed at tackling land hoarding and increasing housing supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf farming land is inappropriately zoned for residential use, then it should be rezoned for agricultural purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis tax is primarily aimed at developers who, instead of building homes, sit on land in the expectation that it will rise in value. With Ireland in the grip of a housing emergency, it is vital that serviced land, located close to urban centres where there is high residential demand, is used to provide desperately needed homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cA residential zoned land tax, levied at three per cent of market value, would have been a valuable tool in achieving this.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven that this tax was announced in 2021, it is simply not credible that the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance should suddenly have an epiphany and find flaws in the legislation at this late stage. The issues raised by farmers could easily have been resolved in the past few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy kicking the can down the road to the other side of a general election, the Government have shown themselves to be completely incapable of getting to grips with Ireland\u2019s housing crisis and, yet again, have let developers off the hook.\u201d<\/p>\n
August 21, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The decision to defer the introduction of a residential zoned land tax shows that the Government is not serious about tackling the housing crisis, according to Social Democrats TD Cian O\u2019Callaghan. Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on housing, said: \u201cThe Government\u2019s cynical U-turn on this tax, which was due to be introduced next […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[278,10,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cian-ocallaghan","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n