Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Every member of the committee is focused on vacant dwellings. We understand that there is a big demand for housing and we want to exploit the potential to assist in that. It is important that the CSO only publish aggregate data but in the interests of accuracy, would it be appropriate to define a habitable dwelling? It is already defined by Revenue by property tax so would it be possible to collaborate with Revenue, in the interests of accuracy and at an aggregate level, to see what it collects for habitable dwelling versus what the CSO records show? If there is a serious difference or mismatch it might require more focus. I commend Deputy O'Dowd on bringing forward legislation to incentivise people to bring vacant houses back into the stock because this will become very important for public policy making and legislation. We are trying to utilise the information the CSO has collected in a way that will benefit the public through the provision of housing.