Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

That is positive. Last year, I was told it would be kept under review and they would see how it works out. The Minister is saying that we do not know what will come in from it until later this month and when the returns are made at the start of January, but we should keep it under review, see how it is working and increase it if necessary. Introducing a vacant homes tax, and essentially doubling it the next year, sends a clear signal. People can infer from this that the tax is only going in one direction and that if someone has a vacant home, for whatever reason, then it is time to look at measures which they can take to move it on, whether that is selling, renting or whatever.

Something always strikes me when we talk about dereliction and vacancy. We often mix up the terms, mixing up vacant homes with derelict buildings that may be residential or commercial. There is a lot of work to be done. We talked about the landlords figures yesterday. There is a lot more work to be done on assessing vacancy and dereliction. Something that leaves one open to vacant homes tax is if the property is uninhabitable. An uninhabitable house is no good to anybody. I realise that many of these are in areas that are probably not in areas where there is the biggest housing demand, and we need to be honest about that, so it is not just the simple figure in the census of 166,000 homes being vacant. That is just what is observed on census night.

The local property tax probably provides a better reflection, although it is a self-declared tax. What measures could we introduce that would capture the uninhabitable homes that are not being captured in the local property tax returns? I do not see anyone capturing that data at all. That is notwithstanding the fact that we have a vacant homes officer in every local authority. I know that work is going on in the context of a condition scoring and appraisal of all vacant properties in all local authorities. I raised the question last year of if it was undeclared because it was uninhabitable, could it automatically go on the derelict sites levy? The response is if it is undeclared because it is uninhabitable then Revenue, by the very nature of the system, does not know about the property. What can we do to capture those and then send that on to the local authorities that they might engage with the owners? That is the role of vacant officers. They are doing a really good job at local authority level both with Croí Cónaithe, first in identifying the buildings and advising and assisting the building owners of all the options that are available to them, and then also advising people who are availing of Croí Cónaithe to bring those buildings back into use. There is still a bit of work to be done but this is a positive move and the message is very clear to people that if they have a vacant home in a housing crisis, the Government will tax it, where those homes are liable, that the tax is likely to go up and will be kept under review.

I know the derelict sites levy is not a matter for Revenue because it is applied by local authorities. The dereliction levy accrues to a property. If one sells it on, then one must pay the levy but that does nothing for a derelict property that might sit there on a main street in a town or village for 20 years. The Derelict Sites Act is under review at the moment. I ask the Minister to consider how the derelict sites levy could be seen as being for Revenue so that local authorities would identify the derelict sites or buildings and vacant homes officers do the same and that information be passed to Revenue. An envelope bearing the harp and containing a letter signed by someone in Revenue dropping into the letter box would probably provide someone with a better impetus to act that, say, an envelope bearing the relevant local authority's crest.