Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thanks very much, Deputy. There are a lot of vacant homes around the country. The Deputy sees them on his travels - I see them on my travels as well - around the country. That is particularly the case in more rural areas like south Kerry. Our colleague, Deputy Griffin, has documented this and photographed it. He has done a whole dossier on it, which he has shared with me. Deputy Healy-Rae is essentially making the same point.

The number of homes that are habitable is relatively low, but they do exist. Regarding the habitable ones, the ones that are liveable, the vacant property tax will apply from this year. For those that are not habitable, are derelict and need a bit of work before someone can live in them, we now have the Croí Cónaithe fund. We have just announced that it will be extended, not just for people who will do up the building and live in it but also for people who will do up the building and rent it out. It is hoped that will make a big difference over the next couple of months or at least the next year or so.

There is a fund for local authorities to make compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, in respect of derelict properties and bring them back into use. Some local authorities are better at doing that than others, but the fund exists. There is also the repair and lease scheme, with which the Deputy will be familiar. We are calling on local authorities in particular to take a lead on this. Some local authorities like Waterford are particularly good. Others are not so good. Every local authority has funding for a full-time derelict homes officer whose job is essentially to lead this. Some big counties like Cork and maybe counties like Kerry where there are a lot of derelict properties may need more than one derelict homes officer and it might be a job for more than one person. We are setting up a section within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage dedicated to the whole issue of vacancy and vacant homes.

We are going to examine the question of how we tax small landlords. We have committed to that. We are going to get that work done as soon as we can with a view to making changes in the next budget.

It is the case that people receive €800 tax free to accommodate Ukrainians in, for example, holiday homes, but they are not permitted to charge any more than that. That must be borne in mind. There is a tax relief - it is €800 tax free - but people cannot charge more than €800. It is important to bear that in mind in the discussion. Actually, they cannot charge anything.

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