MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has reversed the decision to charge owners of mobile homes an annual tax of €200 as part of new laws taxing owners of second homes and holiday homes.
It came as the Government emphatically denied a claim by Fine Gael that residents of nursing homes will be charged the tax for their family homes because the nursing home could be considered as their primary residence.
The annual tax for mobile homes was included as party of the Local Government Charges Bill 2009 which proposes to levy a €200 tax on the owners of second homes, holiday homes and rental property.
However, the inclusion of mobile homes in the Bill led to a public outcry, with sustained coverage of the issue on RTÉ's Liveline, where listeners sharply criticised the measure.
When the Bill came before the Seanad yesterday, it was announced an amendment was being introduced removing mobile homes from the legislation. The amendment was moved later yesterday. Mr Gormley’s spokesman said yesterday the change was made in the interests of equity and fairness.
“Most mobile homes are in caravan parks and the owners of these already pay rates and pay for water services. In the light of that, it was considered that it would be unfair for local authorities to also ask mobile home owners to pay local charges on top of the charges already being paid by those who own the parks,” he said.
Labour TD Ciarán Lynch welcomed what he described as a U-turn by Mr Gormley.
However, he added: “The fact that he came up with it in the first place demonstrates the shoddy nature of the measure and the failure of this Government to tackle our economic and financial crisis in a joined-up manner.”
Fine Gael’s spokesman on the environment, Phil Hogan, accused the Government of attacking the elderly by forcing residents of mobile homes to stump up the €200 charge. Mr Hogan also claimed an elderly person living in a granny flat would also be liable for the tax for the main house, as this would be considered to be their proper home.
“It is clear that the Minister has targeted the elderly for some ‘easy’ revenue. How he can consider a nursing home a primary residence is beyond me. This is especially true as even if someone is resident in a nursing home over a short period of time, they will be levied with the second home tax,” said Mr Hogan.
But the claim was categorically denied by the Minister’s spokesman, who accused Mr Hogan of scaremongering and of making mischief.
“It was never the intention of the legislation that it would affect elderly people and others who are residents of nursing homes. The Minister said in the Seanad today that he will make the legislation crystal clear in this regard and ensure that the Bill does not apply to these people,” he said.
“He accepted, however, that there is a possibility that a clause or amendment might have to be added to bring clarity to the Bill on this question.”
