Mr. Patrick Davitt:

We were among the first bodies to support the vacant site levy of 3%. Many of our members did not want us to support it but we did. We supported it through the Lord Mayor of Dublin and we supported the whole system of executing it. We feel there are too many sites in Dublin that are not in production and that should come into production. One of the most important things about the site levy is that it keeps investors out of the market. If the levy is big and strong enough, investors who want to buy these properties will not be able to buy them because they will have to pay the levy every year.

If it is 3%, 5% or whatever, they have to pay it, which means that the chances are an investor will not buy it because there is no surety about when it will happen. They do not know if it will happen in one, five or ten years time. They have to keep paying the levy.

The site levy does two things. It brings land into production and makes sure that when builders buy it they build on it rather than hoard it. The levy needs to be considered because, based on the advice of the Attorney General, it cannot be introduced until 2019, which we feel is wrong. Money should come into the economy in 2018. We do not know whether 3% is the correct figure. It is a small figure. The first part of any building is the land, and if its price goes up, so too do house prices. If only builders buy and use land, that means prices will remain at building rather than investment levels, and it is to be hoped builders can achieve a profit at a later date.

On the condition of rental housing, a law covers this area. County councils have engineers who inspect all such properties. We recently received a letter from a county council which asked us what we could do. There is very little we can do. County councils have the law on their side and engineers to carry out investigations into houses. If they are not up-to-date, landlords should be told they cannot rent them until such time as they are brought up to date.

It is very difficult for an auctioneer to tell somebody there is something wrong with his or her house. A landlord would respond by saying he or she will rent out the property himself or herself. If an engineer from a county council, who had the law and authority behind him or her, visited a house and told a landlord he or she needed to do certain things before he or she could rent our his or her property, the work would be carried out.