The programme for Government commits to enforcing the vacant sites levy and keeping the legislation under review. However, enforcement of the levy has been, at best, lukewarm and, at worst, completely ineffective. More than half of councils did not collect a levy in 2021. Since its inception, Clare County Council has collected the staggering number of zero from the levy, which is a complete missed opportunity.

Clare County Council have again recommitted to collecting the levy, but it is clear that some local authorities are not prioritising this. In the midst of a housing catastrophe, this laid-back approach seems to be completely unacceptable. People would like to know how and why this levy has been administered so badly for so long. Why do some local authorities collect, and others do not? Are they being resourced differently? What has the Government done to enforce the collection of the levy to date? When will the review of the legislation take place?

The Government is very committed to bringing vacant sites back into use for residential housing. I am taking a tour of all the local authorities. I have asked every single local authority to set up a specific vacant homes unit, which will deal with derelict and vacant sites. It will deal with the Croí Cónaithe scheme, which has proven to be hugely successful. There have been nearly 1,800 applications to date. This is a matter we take very seriously. A residential zoned land tax, RZLT, will be coming in as well. What we are looking for, which is now happening on the ground in each local authority, is consistency. Each one will have a dedicated, resourced multi-discipline unit within it to deal with bringing vacant sites back into use so further houses can be built.