Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

We are in a housing emergency and the Government's housing policy is a disaster. Almost 12,000 people, including more than 3,300 children, are now living in emergency accommodation. Rents are skyrocketing - up 13.7% in 2022 - while at the same time the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has failed to spend more than €1 billion from his capital budget. The Government is in denial. It is ignoring the homelessness figures, the regular protests and even warnings from employers. The Government is refusing to treat this situation as an emergency because that would involve admitting that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party have utterly failed to address the housing disaster. It seems the real barrier to taking immediate and effective action is the Government's pride. Despite all the evidence of missed targets and unspent budgets, it refuses to admit its plan is not working. Thousands of children, families and workers are paying the price for that failure and no end is in sight.

Our motion is about one simple action the Government can take today. It is a single policy intervention that would make a substantial difference to families desperately looking for homes in our cities, towns and villages, namely, to implement a credible vacant homes tax with teeth. The Social Democrats have consistently called for this. The current tax is tokenistic. It is a derisory 0.3%. The Government's tax is not designed to get empty homes back into use. It is designed to maintain the status quo. More than 100,000 vacant homes are sitting idle across the country. At a time when house prices are increasing in value by an average of 7.8% annually, a 0.3% tax on vacant sites is so low it is laughable. The average value of a house in 2022 was €359,000. Last year, the average vacant home increased in value by a whopping €28,000. If we compare this figure with the charge imposed by the Government's vacant homes tax, it means the tax is a little more than €1,000. This is a net gain of €27,000 for those who decide to leave homes vacant, yet the Government wants people to believe that it thinks this is somehow an incentive to compel property owners to bring vacant homes back into use.

At a time when 3,300 children are homeless, this level of inaction is morally reprehensible. Why is the Government facilitating it? Imagine the difference it would make if tens of thousands of vacant homes and apartments all over the country were made available to families. Making use of unoccupied homes make economic, social and environmental sense. The quickest way to deliver housing would provide huge benefits for families and communities. The most frustrating aspect of all this is the Government claims to agree in principle. It is just not willing to act with the level of intensity and scale that is needed. This summarises the failed approach of the Government and previous Fine Gael governments when it comes to housing. It lacks ambition, action, intensity, credibility and results.

Fine Gael has promised a tax on vacant homes since 2017. This Government finally introduced that tax this year but set it so low it makes no real difference. A tax with real teeth is needed to incentivise owners of vacant homes to use, rent or sell them. A vacant homes tax rate of 10% may seem high, but this is an emergency measure to respond to an unprecedented crisis. The existing exemptions would remain for cases such as a home being empty because the owner is in long-term care, the home being in probate, or for farm buildings that are derelict. This is the type of intervention a responsible government should take. It is the type of intervention the Social Democrats would make in government. There is a clear need for a targeted and specific measure to address the scourge of vacancy and help alleviate the housing disaster. That is what we are proposing. Why is the Government unwilling to act?

The housing crisis is the single biggest issue facing the country currently. It impacts on every aspect of people’s lives, affects physical and mental health and has negative consequences for employment. Where is the urgency? Where are the interventions to really encourage those sitting on vacant properties to rent or sell them? The Government’s vacant homes tax is designed to pretend. It is a policy designed to give the illusion of action. That is all it is - an illusion. We need effective measures that will result in homes for the tens of thousands of workers and families who need them and we need these policies to deliver these homes rapidly. There is a massive stock of vacant homes that could be unlocked if the Government were willing to act. Clearly, it is not.

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