Cabinet set to approve reduced concrete block levy of 5%
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The Cabinet is set to approve a reduced concrete block levy of 5% as opposed to the 10% previously sought by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.
In what is seen as a significant dilution of the original plan announced on Budget Day, senior Government sources have confirmed the reduction in the proposed levy, with Mr Donohoe adamant that the levy in principle had to be introduced.
The matter was tabled at Cabinet on Tuesday following a meeting between Mr Donohoe and the three Government party leaders on Monday night.
The levy was supposed to kick-in in April, but sources say it will not now be imposed on builders and homeowners until the end of the summer.
This reversal came after a furious backlash from Government backbenchers after it was first announced in the budget on September 27.
The levy was brought in as a small measure in the budget, aiming to raise €80m a year through a levy on concrete blocks.
It is designed to help pay for the Mica, pyrite and other defective building block schemes which will eventually cost the Government between €4bn and €5bn over time.
Mr Donohoe, speaking on Tuesday, said: “It’s going to be happening. That is the key measure of the Government’s commitment to raise money to deal with Mica and the other defective concrete block schemes that will be coming up.
“I think we’re in a situation where if the levy would not be happening at all, or would be raising a very small amount of money, I think there would be fair questions,” he said.