Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will take a trip down memory lane on the subject of vacancy and dereliction. On 28 September, I raised with the Tánaiste the scourge of vacancy and dereliction across cities, towns and villages. On that date, he told me my question would be better directed to local councils. It seemed it was not a priority for national government. The following week, news broke that the HSE is hoarding hundreds of empty properties across the country. Subsequent replies to parliamentary questions I tabled confirmed that other public bodies, such as Irish Rail and the OPW, are engaged in the same practice and sitting on empty premises. When I raised the issue again, it seemed the penny had finally dropped. Now the Taoiseach is saying there is a carrot-and-stick approach, but it is clear there is not enough of either the carrot or the stick when a mere 3,000 properties will be subject to the new vacant home tax, the Government's so-called silver bullet. If we take census estimates, that amounts to fewer than 2% of all empty properties throughout the country at a time when 13,000 people are homeless. Can the Taoiseach assure the House he will take more effective carrot-and-stick measures to ensure the scourge of vacancy and dereliction is tackled and people can see those idle homes turned into proper family homes for them?

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