Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is a good precedent because it is in law. If there had even been a commitment on Committee Stage, I do not think the Minister would have had to put this into the Finance Bill because we take his word on these issues. However, there was no commitment and the Minister argued very strongly that, because of the complexity of the issue, he would not go ahead with it. Unfortunately, I was forced to put it to a vote but, given the abstentionist position of my colleagues in Fianna Fáil, I lost that vote, along with many others.

Hand on heart, I welcome the Minister's commitment in this regard. While it is just a report, my view is that it signals the introduction of a vacant home tax. It is one part of the jigsaw and there are many other parts but it is a very serious part. One of the issues we have in terms of the housing crisis and homelessness crisis is the length of time it takes to construct a property and to go through planning. The Central Statistics Office tells us approximately 183,000 properties are lying vacant across the State and while those figures may be disputed, we all know that only a portion would in any way, shape or form be capable of being brought into usage in any meaningful way in a short time. Nevertheless, the vacant home tax is a way of trying to encourage owners to avail of other schemes that are available, like the renewal schemes, to get their homes back into a condition where they can be let or sold and brought back into use.

This is long overdue but I welcome that the Minister has done it. I am glad we were able to have that debate on Committee Stage and I am sure it prompted the Minister to bring forward this amendment. On that basis, I will withdraw amendment No. 23. I note the Minister's amendment refers to "not later than 9 months". The quicker we can bring this in, the better, because there will need to be a discussion in this regard.

As such, it would not be appropriate to introduce it in September, which would be just one month away from budget day. It is key that, instead of us still discussing this issue at the time of next year's Finance Bill, we be enacting it in that legislation.

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