Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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241. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the annual revenue that would be raised from introducing a 3% levy on vacant sites. [25300/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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The Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015, which was approved by Government and published earlier this month, is primarily focussed on addressing housing supply-related issues with a view to facilitating increased activity in the housing construction sector, particularly in the Dublin area where demand currently outstrips supply. One of the main provisions of the Bill is the introduction of a vacant site levy aimed at incentivising the development of vacant, underutilised sites in central urban areas for residential or regeneration development. Under the provisions of the Bill, the levy will be charged on the registered owners of vacant sites at a rate of 3% of the market value of each site, with reduced or zero rates applying in specific circumstances. At this time, it is not possible to provide an estimate of the annual levies that may be raised by planning authorities in the operation of the levy.