Ms Orla Murphy:

Ahead of this meeting I went back and read the Derelict Sites Act 1990. It is an Act that confers extraordinarily broad powers on local authorities. It is possible, as we are hearing today, that properties are not being put on the derelict sites register for various reasons. This points to different approaches being applied in different ways in different places. What I see as necessary is that we have a strategic approach that decides nationally what is the correct way that, for example, this legislation and the policy need to be actioned on the ground so it provides high level support and ensures local authorities have support from policy on the top to carry out the clear actions that they are allowed to do under the legislation but also at the same time that supports communities on the ground to get these properties back into use. None of us disagree that this is a systemic, widespread, long-term problem. We need system-based thinking to try to come up with various solutions - and it is a complex problem - at the national scale, the regional scale and the local scale. I hope that answers the Deputy's question.