I too will raise BPFI report. We know from the report that rents in Ireland have increased by more than four times the EU average over the past 12 years. Those figures absolutely lay bare the extent of the crisis in this country. Under the Government, the fact is that things are getting worse. Rents, house prices and homelessness are all at record levels and are continuing to exponentially grow. Meanwhile, mortgage approvals have hit their lowest level in the past 17 months. Construction in the three months to September was down a massive 22% compared to the same period last year. This crisis is having disastrous consequences for every aspect of life in Ireland.

To give the Minister just one example, we have a teacher recruitment crisis in our schools, in large part because teachers can no longer afford the housing costs in Dublin or other urban areas. The Social Democrats will bring forward a motion on that issue tomorrow to propose solutions I hope the Government will adopt. One of the proposals relates to vacant homes. We have been waiting for a vacant homes tax to be introduced since it was first mooted by Fine Gael in 2016, which is six years ago. A proper vacant homes tax can be the fastest, cheapest and most sustainable means of bringing additional homes into use.

Regrettably, the vacant homes tax the Government has finally proposed is so low as to be laughable.

The Government has set the rate at just 0.3% of the value of a property. Does the Minister know that house prices increased by 10.8% in the past year? If the value of a home will increase by more than 10% if it is left vacant, how on earth is a tax of 0.3% an incentive to bring it back into use? Let us take an example of a home that is worth €400,000, which is less than the average price of a Dublin home. Under the Government's plans, the vacant homes tax will be charged at a rate of €1,215 per annum for the next year, but the value of the home will increase by €43,200 over the same period. Sitting on it will still earn people almost €42,000 even after they pay the pathetically low rate of vacant homes tax the Government has introduced. Will the Minister and the Government, for once, take this housing crisis seriously and implement a measure that will make a big difference? He will soon be Minister for Finance for the next two years. I implore him to implement a punitive vacant homes tax. The Social Democrats have proposed a rate of 10% of the value of the home. Will the Minister urgently review the rate of this tax and raise it to a meaningful level?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Making better use of existing stock has to be an important part of the overall solution, given the scale of the housing challenge we face. We know that, with the best will in the world, building new homes takes time, with the various stages that have to be gone through, including planning, procurement, bringing services to land, waterways, water, other infrastructure and so on. We have an issue with the underutilisation of existing stock, including in our towns, villages and cities. If one walks around many of our towns and cities and looks overhead at buildings at night, one does not really see people living there. That sets us apart from many other European cities. We have to find ways to make better use of existing stock. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has brought forward a range of new proposals, including the croí cónaithe special grant of €30,000 for vacant properties, going up to €50,000 if the properties are derelict. He has extended that beyond towns into rural areas and cities too.

When it comes to the issue of properties that are fully vacant, the vacant homes tax is a significant intervention by Government. That is the first time that such a tax has been imposed. One can argue about the rate or the scope but we utilised the information that has been gathered by the Revenue Commissioners from the returns made in respect of the local property tax to construct a new tax and intervention with a view to ensuring that as many of those properties as possible come back into use and become available in the market where there is such a shortfall.

When it comes to local authority homes, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has brought 5,000 social homes back into use under the voids programme. Where the State is directly in control of these homes, through our local authorities, we have accelerated the reinstatement of the homes to get them back into use. A further 2,000 are planned for this year, which is particularly important. We have various instruments, and through our local authorities, the Derelict Sites Act 1990 and the derelict sites register, which needs further work because we have to make sure that where properties are derelict, the penalty has to be significant to make sure they are brought back into play. We now have a new tax in respect of vacant homes, which will play a part in encouraging the owners of those properties to make them available. Having said that, there will always be legitimate reasons for some homes being vacant. We have made changes to the fair deal scheme to ensure that properties can be rented out and that the income is not a penalty in respect of the financial assessment for the scheme. We will continue to work on that. I look forward to the debate on the Social Democrats' motion. The Government will consider any constructive measure that the Deputy or anyone else in this House has to increase the supply of housing stock.

I did not ask the Minister about local authority voids. That is something entirely different. I asked him about the vacant homes tax and the fact that tens of thousands of homes are lying idle at the moment.

They are the most effective way to increase the stock of houses available to our young people, many of whom currently have no choice but to go abroad. Two out of three nurses are planning on emigrating and 61% of our primary schools are understaffed. This is down to the high cost of housing. I asked the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, on what basis he thinks a person who can continue to sit on a vacant property and benefit to the tune of €40,000 next year would be influenced to bring that home into use and make it available as a result of a tax of €1,200. It does not make any sense whatsoever. When I queried the Minister on this all he could say was it is three times the property tax rate.

I thank the Deputy.

That is meaningless. When the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform becomes Minister for Finance in two weeks' time, will he undertake to review the level of this tax-----

The time is up.

-----and introduce a proper vacant homes tax?

I am conscious this is a new tax that has just been legislated for in the Finance Bill. It is set, as the Deputy knows, at three times the property's existing base local property tax, LPT, rate. As is always the case with a new tax, we will keep the rate under review and see if it is having the desired effect. The whole purpose of this new tax, which the Oireachtas has now legislated for, is to help bring more stock back into active use. That is what we are all seeking to do in this House. We have various instruments to do that. Some of these are the carrot, in the form of the grants available to tackle vacancy and dereliction, and some of it is on the taxation side, the stick, whether-----

That is not a scheme. That is tokenism.

-----it be a derelict sites tax or, for the first time ever, a new vacant homes tax. The imperative is to get this up and running. We will monitor the impact to see the extent to which it is having a beneficial effect. It will have some but when it comes to the specific rate, we will be keeping that under review.

The Government just is not serious.