The government's repair and lease scheme is "poorly prompted and poorly funded", according to Sinn Fein.

The party's Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD said that while the scheme is a good in theory it would have a better impact if dedicated vacant homes officers were hired to identify properties.

He also urged the government to introduce a "vacant homes tax" to penalise people sitting on vacant homes with "no good reason".

Deputy Ó Broin said: "Councils need to take a more proactive approach. This would require dedicated vacant homes officers going out and engaging owners to encourage them to avail of the available schemes. These officers should build up a vacant homes register and be working to a vacant homes plan.

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"The poor take up of the scheme also shows the need for a stick as well as the carrot for those wilfully and speculatively sitting on vacant homes. A vacant homes tax needs to operate in conjunction with these refurbishment schemes to further incentivise property owners wilfully leaving homes empty to return their empty properties to use.

"Any vacant homes tax also needs to be more than a token gesture and must be punitive in nature. In Sinn Féin's submission to the government’s vacant homes strategy, we outlined a number of approaches the government could take to implementing such a tax, such as based on the percentage of the market value of the property.

"However, in advance of the introduction of such a measure, a state wide vacant homes register must be rolled out. We need to know how many vacant homes will actually be available for refurbishment and where they are. Key to developing this register is dedicated vacant homes officers employed by local authorities. A huge part of their role would be to engage with vacant property owners and encourage them to return them back into use."

(CD/MH)