Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 November 2022

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Business of Select Committee

Photo of Steven MatthewsSteven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 68:

In page 153, line 17, after "commences," to insert the following: "except where properties have been deemed not liable for local property tax due to being unsuitable for use as a dwelling. In all cases where properties are residential properties and deemed unsuitable for use as a dwelling, such properties shall be registered as derelict by the local authority and shall be subject to the Derelict Sites Act 1990, including the derelict sites levy,".

This is in reference to the vacant homes tax. I am glad a vacant homes tax has been introduced as a measure to activate the vacant properties we know exist around the country. There has been a lot of speculation on the figure. The true figure lies between the 60,000 odd, as referred to in the local property tax returns, and 166,000. As I understand it, if a dwelling is uninhabitable, it does not qualify for the local property tax. Where somebody submits that a vacant dwelling is uninhabitable so as not to be liable to the local property tax or vacant property tax, such properties should be automatically registered on the derelict sites register. That is the substance of my amendment.

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