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

I apologise but I must attend the funeral of one of my wife's relatives after this so I must leave early. I very much welcome the contribution from Dr. Sirr and his colleagues, as well as the Peter McVerry Trust. We need their strong and clear voices on these issues. I support practically everything that was said and I do not disagree with anything. I am trying to think about how we can effect the change being called for, and it seems it will come by putting pressure on the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and the relevant Ministers.

I presented a draft Bill to the Oireachtas on an empty homes tax and it was ruled out of order because only a Minister may introduce legislation imposing a financial penalty or incentive. Although I cannot present the Bill, I will articulate its aims at my party meeting next week. We all need to listen very carefully and articulate the views expressed by the witnesses. In Dublin, there are 36,000 empty homes, according to the last census. That is a huge number of empty homes. I support the comments of the witnesses that if such homes are vacant for one year or more and if they are not the principal private residence of the owner, there should be a penalty that would lead to them being put on the market. There are incentives. If the house is in bad repair, there can be support to refurbish it, and one can make deals with local authorities to lease such properties. There is no excuse in this crisis for any such home that is not a principal private residence not being taxed. In my Bill, I proposed a rate that would have a double rate of property tax for the first year, triple the tax for the third year and so on. We must take very hard decisions. It is a disgrace to allow a position where a home could lie empty if it has the capacity to house a family. I feel very strongly about that.

I have looked at what they have done in Britain and the UK has approximately 350 local authorities, with approximately 260 having used the empty home tax. The penalty is 1.5 times the property tax if it is empty after a year. We cannot just leave this untouched. The witnesses argue that such action would effect immediate change and it is cheaper to get these houses as they are there already. The services already exist so this is a no-brainer.

I also support the comments of the witnesses regarding empty commercial properties. The Apollo House occupation made me consider how many vacant or derelict commercial premises are in my area. It is a large number and we should use them for habitation. In the UK they have some very good programmes. I note from the Peter McVerry Trust contribution that it is possible to take over properties that would never again be used for commercial purposes, restore them and turn them into habitable dwellings or apartments. Again, it is a no-brainer. The Apollo House occupation has demonstrated that it is a way forward with a legal process and fast-tracking the planning. There is no reason it should require a change of use application, provided the parties meet basic fire and other requirements, in order to have a commercial property change to domestic occupancy. That would come with common sense and the support of local authorities.

I keep making the point but it is telling. The vast majority of local authorities failed in their duty of care with the houses offered to them by NAMA. They were offered 7,000 homes but they took 2,500, which is scandalous. Even in the city of Dublin, there were enough properties offered so that every family in a hostel or hotel tonight could be in an apartment or home. That is not the case. We need greater pressure on local authorities. I feel very strongly about this, as do my constituents and people around the whole country. I welcome the continued involvement of the witnesses.

When we finish today it is not about walking away, leaving it all here at the committee with the issues on paper in nice print. We must act. I welcome and acknowledge the help of the Oireachtas library service in researching the matters. Our committee could commission a proper report on these and other matters that people might give us for action rather than discussion. We must identify the nuts and bolts of the actions we need to take. I suggest it would be useful for us to do that as a committee. We have the funds to do it and it would be a direct follow-up to what we hear from the public and the witnesses before us today.