Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the thrust of what my colleagues have said. I agree that we do have a housing emergency and this legislation is specifically dealing with it. I welcome the principle of what the Minister is doing. Later on, we will have a debate on the rental changes the Minister is making which, from what I have read, I very much welcome.

There are 198,000 vacant homes in the State, not including holiday homes, of which 36,000 are in Dublin. That is a huge number. Notwithstanding all the excellent work we are doing, including encouragements for landlords to put more properties on the market, it is time to introduce a tax on vacant homes, such as happens in the United Kingdom. In England, local authorities have flexibility to do it. They may or may not do so but they have the requisite powers. If a home is vacant for two years or more they can double the council tax on it. I agree with Deputy Seamus Healy that if there is an emergency then families should come first. We must ensure that where houses are vacant for two years or more then property tax on them should be increased. That would encourage the owner or landlord to let such houses. Many people might not like such a proposal, but many others would welcome it. It is the only way one can meet current demand because it will take three or four years to build the required number of houses. I appreciate that it is "all systems go" in that regard, but by the time we reach that phase our population will have grown again and there will be a consequent increase in demand for accommodation.

We have to go after those vacant homes and encourage their letting, which the Minister is doing. There must be a penalty if people are holding on to homes while their value appreciates. There are many reasons why they do so, but if it is good enough for England then it is good enough for Ireland also. An increase in property tax would encourage people to let empty homes which are not required for their owners' personal accommodation. It is a no-brainer to me. That proposal goes to the heart of the problem and it is the only way we can get a few thousand homes released for letting, which are badly needed. Local authorities have not done their job in this respect.

In the greater Dublin area the local authorities were offered at least 800 homes under favourable circumstances which they did not let to families on their housing list.

I was approached by a family who were in court last week and given seven weeks to vacate the family home. This family were very successful business people - equally they could have lost their jobs - having built up a business for their whole lives that went bust. These people in their late 60s have gone bust and they have nowhere to go. Their children are grown up so they will not get priority on the local authority housing list. I rang the bank involved but they are not for budging. We need to have more respect for people who have paid their way all their lives and find themselves in this situation, as do people who have their employment. I am not making a distinction between them. We need to do a lot more in that area.

It makes me sick when I listen to advertisements on the radio where a lady says, "My son was born homeless, I am living in a hotel tonight" because that is the result of the mismanagement of our economy by a previous Government. We have to act now. I accept, acknowledge and support all the actions we are taking. We need to go a step further.