(1)(a) In this section-

"floor area compliance certificate", in respect of a dwellinghouse or apartment, means a certificate issued by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government certifying that that Minister is satisfied, on the basis of the information available to that Minister at the time of so certifying, that-

(i) the total floor area of the dwellinghouse or apartment-

(I) does not, or will not, exceed 125 square metres, and

(II) is not, or will not, be less than 38 square metres, and

(ii) the dwellinghouse or apartment complies or will comply with such conditions, if any, as may be set down in regulations made by that Minister from time to time for the purposes of this section;

"valid floor area compliance certificate" means a floor area compliance certificate which has not been withdrawn.

(b) For the purposes of this section the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government-

(i) may make regulations from time to time-

(I) specifying the manner in which the total floor area of a dwellinghouse or apartment is to be measured, and

(II) setting down conditions in relation to standards of construction of dwellinghouses and apartments and the provision of water, sewerage and other services therein,

(ii) may issue a floor area compliance certificate in respect of a dwellinghouse or apartment to a person where that Minister is satisfied, on the basis of information provided to that Minister by the person, or by a person on behalf of the person, that the person is registered for value-added tax and is the holder of a current certificate of authorisation within the meaning of section 530(1) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 or a current tax clearance certificate within the meaning of section 1094(1) or section 1095(1) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997,

(iii) may, by notice in writing, withdraw any such certificate already issued, and

(iv) may not issue a floor area compliance certificate in respect of a dwellinghouse or apartment unless any person authorised in writing by that Minister for the purposes of this section is permitted to inspect the dwellinghouse or apartment at all reasonable times on production, if so requested by a person affected, of his or her authorisation.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the Commissioners or any person authorised by the Commissioners on their behalf, may, by notice in writing, request the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to provide them, or any person so authorised, with the information, referred to in paragraph (b)(ii) of subsection (1), which was supplied by a person in support of the person's application for a floor area compliance certificate.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), an instrument giving effect to the purchase of a dwellinghouse or apartment on the erection of that dwellinghouse or apartment shall be exempt from all stamp duties.

(4) Subsection (3) shall have effect in relation to an instrument only if the instrument contains a statement, in such form as the Commissioners may specify, certifying that-

(a) the instrument gives effect to the purchase of a dwellinghouse or apartment on the erection of that dwellinghouse or apartment,

(b) until the expiration of the period of [2 years]¹ commencing on the date of the execution of the instrument or the subsequent sale of the dwellinghouse or apartment concerned, whichever event first occurs, that dwellinghouse or apartment will be occupied as the only or principal place of residence of the purchaser, or if there be more than one purchaser, of any one or more of the purchasers or of some other person in right of the purchaser or, if there be more than one purchaser, of some other person in right of any one or more of the purchasers and that no person-

(i) other than a person who, while in such occupation, derives rent or payment in the nature of rent in consideration for the provision, on or after 1 April 2004, of furnished residential accommodation in part of the dwellinghouse or apartment concerned, or

(ii) other than by virtue of a title prior to that of the purchaser,

will derive any rent or payment in the nature of rent for the use of that dwellinghouse or apartment, or of any part of it, during that period, and

(c) on the date of execution of the instrument there exists a valid floor area compliance certificate in respect of that dwellinghouse or apartment.

(5) In subsection (4)(b), the reference to the subsequent sale does not include a reference to a sale the contract for which, if it were a written conveyance, would not, apart from section 82, be charged with full ad valorem duty or a sale to a company under the control of the vendor or of any person entitled to a beneficial interest in the dwellinghouse or apartment immediately prior to the sale or to a company which would, in relation to a notional gift of shares in that company taken, immediately prior to the sale, by any person so entitled, be under the control of the donee or successor within the meaning of section 27 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003, irrespective of the shares the subject matter of the notional gift.

(6) Where, in relation to an instrument which is exempted from stamp duty by virtue of subsection (3) and at any time during the period referred to in subsection (4)(b), some person, other than a person referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) of subsection (4)(b), derives any rent or payment in the nature of rent for the use of the dwellinghouse or apartment concerned, or of any part of it, then the purchaser, or where there be more than one purchaser, each such purchaser, shall-

(a) jointly and severally become liable to pay to the Commissioners [an amount (in this section referred to as a "clawback")]¹ equal to the amount of the duty which would have been charged in the first instance if the dwellinghouse or apartment had been conveyed or transferred or leased by an instrument to which this section had not applied together with [interest charged on that amount, calculated in accordance with section 159D]², from the date when the rent or payment is first received to the date [the clawback]³ is remitted, and

(b) the person who receives the rent or payment shall, within 6 months after the date of the payment, notify the payment to the Commissioners on a form provided, or approved of, by them for the purposes of this section, unless that person is already aware that the Commissioners have already received such a notification from another source.

(6A) Notwithstanding subsection (4), subsection (6) shall not apply to an instrument, being an instrument executed before 5 December 2007, to which subsection (3) applied to the extent that any rent or payment in the nature of rent, for the use of the dwelling-house or apartment or any part of the dwelling-house or apartment, is derived—

(a) on or after 5 December 2007, and

(b) after the expiration of a period of 2 years which commences on the date of the execution of the instrument concerned.

(7) Where a valid floor area certificate, within the meaning of section 91, has issued in respect of a dwellinghouse or apartment, that certificate shall be deemed to be a valid floor area compliance certificate within the meaning of this section, where an exemption from stamp duty is claimed under this section in respect of the dwellinghouse or apartment concerned.

(8) The furnishing of an incorrect statement within the meaning of subsection (4) shall be deemed to constitute the delivery of an incorrect statement for the purposes of section 1078 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

(9) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.