Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My point is slightly different. People often think a local authority is a single entity but, of course, it is not. It is different departments, many with different functions. Invariably, whether it is the land management development or planning function of the local authority, the individuals responsible for the register sit on one side of the building and on the other side there are the director of housing and housing services, which are responsible for provision of housing and compulsory purchase of housing primarily for social housing. Just because the left hand has the information, that does not mean the right hand does. We took a decision some years ago in my constituency that every time we came across a derelict property, we would write to the director of housing to ask if he knew the property was derelict and if he would consider acquiring it. Some of those properties were on the register, yet the director of housing did not know that. I am not arguing against the ministerial function but it would also be nice if there was a responsibility on the function of the local authority that compiles and holds the derelict sites register to cross-inform. One may find that the housing section in a local authority would proceed to CPO, for example. I know that sounds stupid because it is the one organisation and you ask why they do not but that is not how stuff happens in practice.