Dr. Keith Walsh:

That is really a question for the Department rather than for Revenue. We are responsible for administering and implementing the tax.

What we are trying to do through this revaluation exercise is collect information. I do not want to speak for the Department but the information that exists at the moment is not very clear. There are some high estimates of the number of vacant properties which I think dates back to the most recent census, five years ago. Other estimates have been produced since then that suggest lower levels of vacancy. The idea of gathering information on the current level of vacancy is probably a good first step to potentially expanding the tax or modifying it in terms of vacancies. I stress that is not what we are doing at the moment. We are collecting information on vacancy and occupancy. There are no plans at the moment to vary the tax on vacancy or occupancy.