Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make my point, if I may. I welcome the empty homes tax. It is something that I have campaigned for in my party for a number of years. It is important, regardless of what figure one chooses for the number of vacant homes. A medium figure seems to be approximately 100,000. If we do this right, the tax will provide a benefit as well as a significant possibility for tens of thousands of people. Initially, though, we must change what we are doing. I do not agree with the regulation setting out that the tax will only apply to properties that are occupied for less than 30 days in a 12-month period. That is not good enough. Nor should the vacant homes tax apply universally across the country. My argument remains what it has always been, namely, we should go after all of those homes in rent pressure zones that are empty today. The period for which they can be left vacant should not be greater than six months. If someone's house is left vacant for six months, he or she should pay the vacant house tax on it. There should be no exemptions other than sensible and appropriate ones, for example, if someone is in hospital or a nursing home.

There is a model for all of this and it actually works. Between 2017 and 2020, the empty homes tax in the city of Vancouver reduced the number of vacant homes by 30%. In the same period, the number of lettings and new tenancies increased by 3% or 4%. This was a major plus for families in Vancouver who were able to go into empty homes where no one had been living for at least six months of the year. If we mean what we say as a Government, we should insist on the same happening in Ireland.

There are pressures from every direction against this tax, but the Government has made the principled decision to introduce it. There are those who will shout and roar at it, but we must work with what we have and maximise our arguments in this House and on Oireachtas committees to make the tax an eventuality that works for thousands of people. If we can open up 3,000 homes that are currently empty - they have roofs, doors and windows and all people need are the keys to get into them - to the people Deputies have mentioned as well as those whom I know in my constituency, it will make a significant difference. It can and must be done. It does not make sense to ignore all of the houses that are sitting empty. The Ministers of State, Deputies Noonan and Peter Burke, should listen to me, look at the record and consider the facts. If they do what I suggest, it will work. It is working in other jurisdictions.

Louth County Council has shown the way forward by taking over properties that have been abandoned and left vacant, refurbishing them and putting families in them. This was done with more than 100 homes over three years at an average cost of less than €200,000, including legal costs. The Government must do more than it is doing now. I have argued consistently for there to be one person in the Department to drive this with energy, get all of the local authorities to use compulsory purchase orders, and to get people up off their butts, looking for these homes and ensuring that they are occupied. That is the task we are facing.

Last Sunday's polls were stark, but real. The main issue in this country is, and remains, housing. It will always be housing unless and until those homes are filled. Why would we not do this? That is my challenge to the Government. We cannot sit back and say that everything is great and that the Minister will do whatever he is going to do. It not about him. It is not even about us. It is about all the people out there who are entitled to the full support of the State to fill empty homes and about tackling the people who leave those homes idle.

See this speech in context