Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

As outlined in the reply to Question No. 4 of 22 April, my Department is progressing a range of actions, with the co-operation of local authorities and other key stakeholders, to address the issue of unfinished or unoccupied estates. These actions include in the first instance an accurate quantification, classification and mapping of the various types of unfinished or unoccupied estates on a county by county basis to understand the scale and distribution of the problem. Following completion of a pilot exercise with one local authority, a comprehensive national inventory is now under way and should be completed in the middle of the year.

My Department is also preparing a best practice policy manual which aims to identify the necessary responses to ensure satisfactory outcomes in tackling issues on specific sites in a co-ordinated and proactive manner. The responses will require a range of interventions across a number of disciplines – there are issues of public safety, the provision of bonds and securities, environmental protection, building control and estate management.

There is a legal responsibility on developers and site owners to ensure their sites are left in a safe and secure condition. Local authorities are prioritising action to ensure these obligations are discharged and that sites within their areas are properly secured from public access and, where necessary, are made structurally sound. In this regard, existing legislation such as the Derelict Sites Act 1990 and the Litter Acts 1997 to 2003, along with planning legislation, can be and is being used to ensure developers and the owners of sites engage with local authorities in addressing specific difficulties. My Department will also keep the need for further legislative reforms to assist local authorities on this issue under review.

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