Ireland's finance minister confirmed today that vacant homes will face a new tax in the next budget.
Paschal Donohoe's comments come after the latest figures show more than 57,000, or 3 per cent, of habitable properties eligible to pay LPT rent are vacant.
The LPT will serve as the basis for designing new taxes.
The minister said the purpose of the tax was to maximise the use of existing housing, not to increase the tax.
Properties that are vacant for good cause will be exempt, he added.
Those properties could include properties that are in probate, as well as properties "in between" rentals, he said.
Greens TD and Oireachtas housing committee chair Stephen Matthews said the tax could push home owners to renovate, rent or sell their homes.
This will bring more vibrant towns and villages, he said.
The latest figures from the Tax Commissioner show the majority of vacant properties (61 per cent) have been vacant for less than a year.
Revenue said 22% of owners said the properties were vacant because they were undergoing renovations, and 20% said they were vacation homes.
More than one in 10 vacant properties are located in Dublin City, followed by Cork City with close to 9% and Cork City with over 7%.
Carlow has the lowest vacancy rate at less than 1 per cent.
The national average is 3.2 per cent of total stock, meaning almost one in every 30 properties is vacant.
A report released this afternoon showed the figures did not include abandoned buildings.
The tax office collects information provided by property owners on the local property tax register.
It noted that these findings have not been independently confirmed.
As of November last year, 57,206properties were vacant.Property tax on these properties is 12.4 million euros.
Minister Donoghue said the numbers indicated vacancies were "within the normal range".
A statement from Ireland's Treasury said the data would be used to "assess the merits and implications of introducing a vacant property tax".
"Home prices in all counties are low," consistent with "a well-functioning housing market," the report said.
"The reasons for the vacancy are real," the statement continued, including "where the property is being sold" or "long-term care by the owner."
"Resolving vacancy and abandonment issues and maximizing the use of existing housing stock is a priority for the government," Minister Donoghue said.
