Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I spoke about the vacant site levy on Committee Stage. I spoke about how it is critical that we have a functioning and proper vacant site levy or a similar mechanism. I think everybody in the House will agree that what is in place at the moment clearly is not working. Senator Mullen has identified the various differences across counties in how it is applied and other issues. However, a mechanism similar to a vacant site levy or something to replace it is required. However, there is no point in having it if it is not aligned from the top down. We can start with our national planning framework policies, align the critical infrastructure to build on those policies, zone the land around that and then have a working practical vacant site levy. It is the ideal model. There are parts of it that are clearly not working at the moment. For me, it is not about the revenue that councils are losing out on because of the vacant site levy; it is the fact that we are not building houses where we should be, which is more important to me than the levy itself. It must be all about building houses.

I have spoken to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the issue. Perhaps the Minister of State can comment on it in his response. A review is under way of the vacant site levy, how it is implemented across counties and the various differences. I welcome that. We all agree that it is not fit for propose. I am not disagreeing with the Senator's amendment. I am saying that I can provide an example of a meeting that I had with Irish Water today at which we discussed the cases wherein people get planning permission and agree pre-connection, but when they go to build, Irish Water informs them that somebody came in ahead of them and the capacity that was there previously is no longer available and they cannot build.There are get-out clauses, even in what is being proposed by the Senator today.

While I fully support the Senator's points and the thrust of the amendment, I think the vacant site levy needs a complete overhaul. For the levy to be successful, it has to be aligned with the infrastructure, zoning and the national policies. Unless they are all singing in harmony, nothing is going to work. I support and trust what the Senator is trying to do.