Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions on this issue. Given the scale of the housing challenge we face at the moment, I felt it appropriate to send a signal in the budget and in this Bill that even though we are only now receiving the first set of returns, we will increase the tax. That is why I made the decision to go from three times to five times the LPT rate. It will be kept under review into the future. Last year, when the tax was being designed, the issue of increasing the rate for longer durations of vacancy was considered. I considered that issue in recent months and looked at different options in this regard. However, the case was made to me that it would involve considerable complexity from a systems and administration point of view and that it was not the appropriate time to do it. That said, Revenue is using the information it has collected and will collect over the period ahead to develop a vacancy register, which can form the basis of the data set we would need and can then use to make an informed policy choice around increasing the rate of tax in line with the duration of the vacancy. I will keep the issue under review and I look forward to seeing the data that are collected by Revenue.

On Deputy Matthews's points, I agree we have work to do on dereliction. It is not an area for which I have direct line responsibility. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and his officials are undertaking a review at this time of the derelict sites system that is in place. I stand ready to work with him and support him in this regard. I look forward to the conclusion of that work in the period ahead.