Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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821. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the progress made on strengthening the enforcement of the vacant site levy; if he has considered or is considering the introduction of a site value tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20717/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Under the vacant site levy provisions in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, planning authorities were empowered to apply a vacant site levy of 3% of the market valuation of relevant properties which were listed on local authority vacant site registers in 2018, which relevant owners were liable to pay in January 2019. The rate of the levy increased to 7% for sites listed on local authority vacant sites register from 2019 onwards which site owners became liable to pay in January 2020.

My Department proactively engages with local authorities with a view to ensuring that the vacant site levy achieves its full potential in terms of bringing concerned sites into productive use. In this regard, my Department issued Circular Letter PL 03/2021 on 8 March 2021 requesting the submission of a progress report on the collection of the levy by each local authority. My Department is currently following up on any outstanding responses and will collate the responses and identify issues requiring further action. My Department will proactively engage with individual planning authorities whom it feels could be performing better and identify issues to be addressed. This is in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government - Our Shared Futureto strengthen enforcement of the vacant site levy while also keeping the legislation under review.

In relation to a site value tax, taxation issues are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Finance.