Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank witnesses for their contributions. This is a really serious issue. From my time in Cork City Council for 12 years and now in the Dáil, I think it is a scandal. My own constituency of Cork North-Central is blighted from the inner city areas to the rural areas with dereliction and vacancy. Since I have come to Dublin for the past almost two years as a Deputy, the amount of dereliction and vacancy up here is nothing short of a crime. I have spent the summers here for the past number of years and found that dereliction and vacancy is not an inner city problem, it is in every town and village and rural area, and it is being allowed to happen. From what I can see, the Government, the Department and the local authorities will not tackle landowners who are hoarding land. It is a complicated issue, but the major points are people holding land to maximise profit and the lack of funding to local authorities to hire the staff to compulsorily purchase the properties and the legal costs involved. That can only be solved by support from central government and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

I have questions to put to Anois, to Mr. O'Connor and Ms Sherry in regard to dereliction. I see in my own constituency the antisocial behaviour, the gangs and the dumping that are caused when there are derelict and vacant sites. In the work that Mr. O'Connor and Ms Sherry have done, going around to the hundreds of sites, what are the detrimental issues they see in regard to vacancy and dereliction? For Professor Murphy who spoke in regard to vested interests and the holding of assets, does the professor believe that the current legislation on derelict sites and the levies and compulsory orders that exist are strong enough to tackle dereliction? Is it the case that the local authorities and the Department are just not enforcing the law? Can Mr. O'Connor and Ms Sherry answer first and then Professor Murphy?