Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

In the face of an absolutely diabolical housing and homelessness crisis that sees record numbers of people in this country with nowhere to live - nearly 12,000 now in emergency accommodation, including nearly 4,000 children, shamefully - it is even more shameful that, according to the census, we have 166,000 vacant properties, 48,000 of those vacant for six years and 23,000 of them vacant since 2011. Will the Minister introduce tax measures in the budget to deal with this scandal?

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