Ms Jude Sherry:

I thank the Chairman for the question. To finish the quote raised earlier, the legal definition of dereliction is that it "detracts, or is likely to detract, to a material degree from the amenity, character or appearance of the land in the neighbourhood". The key phrase for us is "in the neighbourhood". Unless a house is isolated and in a rural area - we live in urban areas and we are talking about urban regeneration - it is about the effect the dereliction has on the neighbourhood. When it comes to the definition, the Derelict Sites Act 1990 goes on to provide a number of different examples of what can constitute dereliction. It is quite a broad definition. Some people criticised the broadness of that definition and there have been quotes in the press to the effect that it leaves councils to take in their own interpretation of what dereliction is. Dr. O'Connor and I agree with that broad definition from the point of view that it is in regard to what is considered derelict in the neighbourhood.

In terms of our lived experience of moving to the city centre of Cork from another historic city that is built on a marshland, namely, Amsterdam, there was a massive contrast for us. In Ireland, there is not the same high level of care and maintenance given to our built environment. There can be challenges in identifying what is and what is not derelict. When it comes to our lived experience in Cork, in all honesty we are considering buying hard hats to wear as we walk around the city because there have been numerous cases of parts of buildings falling down and buildings collapsing in the city. This is not something we have experienced. It resonates more to when we visited Havana in Cuba and the news reports there of collapsing and crumbling buildings.