John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can certainly see the point the Senator is making on derelict properties. We have introduced a whole host of schemes to incentivise bringing properties back into productive use. Not only is there the refurbishment grant of €70,000, but also the repair and lease scheme and the buy and renew scheme. Some local authorities have used these schemes to great effect, while some have not used them at all. Some 50% of all repair and lease units in the entire country have been delivered in County Waterford. Applications to the vacant property refurbishment grant have also been made for more than 5,500 properties. According to the latest figures I have, there have been approximately 2,500 approvals. I can, therefore, see the point being made concerning the dereliction element of the recommendation.

In terms of the increase of the vacant homes tax from three to five times the rate of the local property tax, we need to see how this will bed in over the course of 2024. The Minister for Finance is on record as saying this will be kept under review. I am not sure the proposal for ten times the amount is necessary in the review. That will be openly considered by the Government in this context. However, where the State has intervened to introduce a whole host of schemes to incentivise addressing these derelict properties, perhaps there is scope in respect of the local property tax to bring these properties within it. It is true that they can be captured in the context of the Derelict Sites Act 1990. Some local authorities, such Limerick City and County Council, have been using this measure to great effect in respect of putting derelict sites on the register. Compulsory purchase orders are then carried out under that Act, as opposed to under the Housing Act, which can be a slow and arduous process. Certainly, other local authorities need to step up to the plate in this respect. If we are looking at something in the context of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, with a council or a local property tax in terms of revenue, perhaps this balance, only in the context of what we have done in terms of the other schemes, needs to be reviewed.