DUBLIN: Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has confirmed that work is underway on plans for a vacant home tax. Varadkar told reporters that the work is being carried out by the Department of Housing and the Attorney General’s office. Varadkar said he hopes to give a “detailed answer” on the shape of the proposal before the end of September, if not before the end of August.
According to Varadkar, the issue the Government is likely to run into when drawing up the scheme is that of property rights. He said: “We have to make sure that anything we do around a vacant house tax or vacant house levy or something along those lines doesn’t get struck down by the courts on the basis that we’re interfering with property rights.” He added: “But property rights in Ireland are not absolute. They are limited by the public interest. So we will be balancing property rights with the public interest.”
