Local authorities have “not done enough” to tackle dereliction and the Government is moving to bring in a new tax on derelict properties out of “frustration”, the Tánaiste has said.Councils have the power to charge the owners of abandoned or neglected properties a levy of 7 per cent of the property’s market value each year until the property is fixed.However, Simon Harris said local authorities had “failed” in their job to administer the levy.He is to bring a memo to Cabinet on Tuesday on proposals for Revenue to collect a new derelict property tax to replace the levy. The tax is initially expected to apply to cities and towns at a rate of at least 7 per cent. It is to be a self-assessed tax managed by Revenue and there will be penalties for noncompliance. Harris said on Sunday that local authorities had been given extra staff and funding and they “haven’t done enough” on dereliction.Speaking to reporters in advance of a Fine Gael event in Dublin to mark the centenary of the birth of Garret FitzGerald, Harris said local authorities had “badly failed” in administering the old levy, “with a few notable exceptions”.He added: “We’re now going to legislate in this year’s budget to bring in a derelict sites tax and to have Revenue collect it."Harris said the Government was taking this approach out of “frustration” and “some bit of anger, quite frankly”, as he argued that local authorities had not done enough to rectify the “scourge of dereliction”. He encouraged the owners of derelict properties to avail of grants or compulsory purchase order opportunities, saying they “have a choice: come talk to us, get it back into use, or pay a hefty tax”.Earlier, he defended his own party’s record on housing when asked whether Fine Gael carried any of the blame for the housing crisis. Harris earlier gave an interview to The Journal website in which he also criticised local authorities, suggesting too many of them thought they’d “done enough” on housing. Harris said the housing crisis would continue “until we have enough homes built in this country for people, particularly young people, to be able to purchase their own home”.He said his party’s record was “one of increased supply and trying to rebuild a sector that was broken in every and any way”.He said tackling the crisis “involves everybody stepping up” to act. “I have sat in front of far too many chief executives of far too many councils with the Taoiseach, with the Minister for Housing, with the Minister of State for Planning, and they eyeball us and say they’ve done enough and they haven’t,” he said. “They’re letting young people down.”Harris said not all local authorities were failing, with some “doing an absolutely excellent job”.