Mr. Paul Clegg:

As I said at the outset, we have 75 sites on the derelict sites register and around 75% of them would be single, residential units. We also have another 300 to 400 active files that we keep an eye on. Our aim is not to get a property onto the derelict sites register but to deal with the dereliction.

Based on our experience, property owners do not deliberately let their properties go into dereliction. We find that it arises because of title difficulties, probate issues, people with personal difficulties and lack of finances. We have found that by engaging with people and trying to assist them, in the main people have been proactively working on their derelict properties. Where we have had no response, we have compulsorily acquired 25 properties with another 12 are in the offing. In the main, they have been refurbished and brought back into use as social homes.

It is about engaging with people. It is not about putting them onto the derelict sites register. It is not about Dublin City Council getting income from derelict sites. We are doing all we can to encourage people to maintain their homes and not let them to go into dereliction.