Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It was raised earlier as well but Deputy Griffin has had a consistent interest in this. It is the intention of the Government to introduce a vacant property tax next year. The Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Act 2021 introduced by the Minister for Finance has enabled Revenue to collect certain information on vacant properties in the local property tax, LPT, return forms submitted by residential property owners last month in respect of the new LPT valuation period 2022-25. Those returns are currently being analysed by Revenue and included information on the quantity, locations and characteristics of long-term vacant properties as of 1 November 2021. The Minister will receive the results of Revenue's analysis of this information early this year. That analysis, together with other available sources of information will be used by the Minister and his officials to inform the optimum design of a vacant property tax. It will be important in designing that tax to achieve and appropriate balance between placing enough pressure on vacant home owners to allow the measure to actually work as an incentive and ensuring any such tax does not arbitrarily or excessively penalise homeowners in a discriminatory way.

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