Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wanted to raise one point. We discussed vacant homes, of which there are approximately 200,000 across the country. We have never carried out an audit of the number of vacant shops, which I argue would show substantial numbers. It would be an interesting exercise. Just because they are private businesses does not mean they should be treated differently if they are left idle for years. We could decide on a number of years, such as five, ten or 15 years, and have a system whereby properties lying idle for a number of years would be dealt with.