Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We live in strange times in many ways. I heard comments this morning about the strange irony that many tourists to Dublin are staying in apartments through Airbnb while many of the homeless are staying in hotels.We are all very well aware of the shortage of rental accommodation in the capital. A recent study by daft.ierevealed that the price of rental property in Dublin has gone up by 40% while the availability has gone down by 80%. While I commend the provision in the budget to increase the tax-free allowance for homeowners to rent out a room to €14,000 and the Action Plan for Housing of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, which will provide 47,000 units of social housing, I believe that more can be done.

In Canada, a tax on empty homes has been introduced. Vancouver City Council recently approved such a tax. I believe we should monitor that and perhaps consider its introduction in Ireland and in Dublin in particular, where the gravest problems exist. City councils themselves should not be exempt from such penalties. We hear a lot of talk about empty units being owned by the council and work not being done maybe as efficiently as it should be, which adds to the crisis. The tax being introduced in Vancouver is the first of its kind in Canada and has been introduced to combat its own housing crisis. It is expected to improve the situation by persuading owners of thousands of empty apartments and houses to put them up for rent or be penalised. Self-reporting owners will be taxed 1% of the value of homes that are not principal residences or are not rented out for at least six months of the year. As I said, the initiative is something we should consider in Ireland. I would be grateful if the Leader could pass on my comments to the Minister.