Ms Jude Sherry:

Likewise, we do not understand why derelict properties are not put on the derelict sites register. It is a law that should be used to its fullest because dereliction is on such a large scale and has gone on for so long. Nine months ago, we reported hundreds of properties to Cork City Council. Only four of those have been put on the derelict sites register in those nine months. Obviously, we understand it takes time to put a property on the derelict sites register. However, 72% of the derelict properties we identified, all within 2 km of Cork city island, have not been registered in the derelict register.

We have concerns when it comes to that approach of negotiating and working with the owners before a property goes on the derelict site register because as citizens, we do not have that transparency of knowing how many properties are under negotiation between owners and the local authority and for how long that negotiation has been going on. For instance, Cork City Council claims it is investigating about 90 properties. It has been 90 properties since 2019. They may be a different set of 90 properties, but as citizens we just do not know. That transparency is lacking when a property does not go on the derelict site register.