Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I did not raise this issue to put the cat among the pigeons but it has put the cat among the pigeons. I heard the Minister mention a figure of 1.3 million and it did not sit right with me and has led to a long debate. I am concerned about that because between the 1.65 million and the approximately 2 million are the holiday homes, the vacant houses and second homes. People who work in one part of the country, such as some people in the House, may have an apartment in Dublin. There is nothing wrong with that, as they need to live close to their work. Section 5(2) provides that a grant under this section payable in respect of the year 2015 shall only be paid where the occupier of a dwelling has registered with Irish Water and has provided to the Minister for Social Protection information as specified in regulations. In order that we are absolutely clear, it is an occupier of a household - an occupied household - who is entitled to the grant. There are more than 1.3 million occupied households in the State. I remember clearly all the discussions we had around the local property tax, LPT. I remember clearly the earlier discussions with the former Minister, Mr. Phil Hogan, who has departed for greener pastures, and the figure was always higher than 1.3 million occupied households. My memory of the 2011 statistics which my colleague, Deputy Jonathan O'Brien, has updated to 2013, is that the number is more than 1.3 million.

As the person who first raised the question and given that we are talking about a large amount of money, potentially €35 million-----

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