Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe was warned that any plan to tax farmland which was zoned for housing development was likely to be “politically sensitive”.
Internal Department of Finance records describe how the Department of Housing wanted to exclude agricultural land – when it had been later rezoned for redevelopment or regeneration – from the government’s plan for a zoned land tax.
However, both the Revenue and Department of Finance had “significant reservations” about this and how it might exclude badly needed development land.
They said any attempt to exclude certain agricultural land from the plan could “undermine the whole proposal” in a submission prepared for Minister Paschal Donohoe.