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

I am conscious this is a new tax that has just been legislated for in the Finance Bill. It is set, as the Deputy knows, at three times the property's existing base local property tax, LPT, rate. As is always the case with a new tax, we will keep the rate under review and see if it is having the desired effect. The whole purpose of this new tax, which the Oireachtas has now legislated for, is to help bring more stock back into active use. That is what we are all seeking to do in this House. We have various instruments to do that. Some of these are the carrot, in the form of the grants available to tackle vacancy and dereliction, and some of it is on the taxation side, the stick, whether-----

See this speech in context