Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely, but I do not like the way it is shaping up because it does not come across like there is a serious effort by Revenue or Government to force this issue and bring the houses back into use. That is the purpose of it. The manual concentrates overly on exemptions. How does Revenue verify applications for exemptions? Will the Minister provide information on that? It is not clear that a serious attempt is being made on this.

The other issue is the fact it is a self-assessment tax. As it is a new self-assessment tax, is there not a strong case for having a good public awareness campaign on this? How are people to know? The Minister referred to information on Revenue's website but that is not adequate. If he is serious about going after vacant homes and bringing them back into use for the thousands of people who cannot access homes now, it is up to him to commence a high-profile, well-resourced public awareness programme. Will he do that?

See this speech in context