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

I thank the witness. People are coming to my office every week who cannot rent houses or get social housing. People are being given notices to quit, evictions and they look around their communities and look at vacant properties that could be turned into housing. It is a scandal. Local authorities are not being encouraged nor funded by the Government to do this.

I do not think it should be up to local authorities to feel or to give their impression. The law is the law and they should enforce the law. If a site is derelict they should apply the levies. There are 13 local authorities that do not apply any levies and 21 of them will not collect 1 cent. How are the Government and the Department allowing 21 local authorities not to collect any derelict sites levies while there are sites lying idle everywhere? It is a scandal.