A ROW OVER the potential deferral of a tax on undeveloped land could be put to bed as leader of the Green Party Roderic O’Gorman believes all three Government parties can come to an agreement before the Budget.

Speaking in Dublin today, O’Gorman made his first public remarks about a row that between the three Government parties last week after reports that a tax on undeveloped land would possibly be excluded in the Budget.

The Greens came out strong last week, with many claiming they had been “blindsided” by the reports and called for the tax to be included in this year’s Budget.

Residential Zoned Land Tax is targeted at unused land, which has been zoned or classified as a site for housing. The tax would include mixed-land sites, where other services may also be built on the site, and the rate is set at 3% of the land’s market value. 

The rate, which O’Gorman today acknowledged was significantly high, is aimed to make it so those who are seen to be ‘hoarding’ land pay a fee on the unused land, develop housing on the site or sell it on to someone who will develop the land.

It was set to kick in in February, with bills coming due in May 2025. Farmers believe, however, it that the fee unfairly targets them as some of their land may go unused for particular portions of the year.

Last week, Finance Minister Jack Chambers was seeking to defer the introduction of the tax for another year, according to reports. Taoiseach Simon Harris defended the choice, claiming that it was unfair and “offensive” to label farmers as ‘land hoarders’.

But, speaking on the row for the first time today, Minister for Integration O’Gorman said that he expects that the land tax will indeed be included in the Budget in October and that concessions will be made for farmers.

“Penalizing farmers, who are working their land and who plan to continue to do so, is not what we’re trying to do here,” he told reporters today. “So a carve out that avoids that – it’s not a climb down – is something that we all welcome, across all three parties.”

The minister added that he spoke to Chambers about the issue last weekend and added that work is “underway” in the Department of Finance, along with the Attorney General, to figure out a way that an exclusionary clause can be created for farmers.

O’Gorman said he was “confident” that the Department of Finance would deliver a tax regime that excludes farmers but still “attacks” the issue of land hoarding to ensure that zoned and serviced land for housing is actually used.

“The scale of the housing crisis is too great for us just to allow that land stay idle,” he added. O’Gorman did not deny that the party was “blindsided” by the reports, but said that he has since engaged with Minister Jack Chambers on the issue.

Simon Harris, speaking at the same event, said that he welcomed the fact that the Department were working on proposals to get the land tax regime over the line.

“It’s important to remember that all three parties in our cabinet collectively decided that this was a good measure, and it is in the housing for all strategy Minister O’Gorman rightly refers to,” the Taoiseach added.