Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 December 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Urban Regeneration: Discussion

Mr. Paul Clegg:

The Senator mentioned both dereliction and vacancy, and I have clearly outlined that we do compulsorily acquire derelict properties. A reference is done on a CPO and the property we are going to acquire is clearly defined. Perhaps, in future when we have data, a CPO could be done of a particular area, whereby we would identify four or five vacant properties, but we have not clearly defined vacancy or identified what vacant properties we should acquire. Somebody with a vacant property can also sell it on the open market, so the question then is why the property has not been sold. There may be issues with probate or the title. When we clearly define what a vacant property is, we can look to acquiring property for residential purposes. The property that is available has to be clearly defined. As I said earlier, CPOs have to have a clear purpose-----