Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 8, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:

"7. (1) Owners of sites greater than 0.05 hectares that are vacant or idle have a responsibility to register their interests with the local authority before 1 January 2016 or face a fine of 3 per cent of the site market value, for the year 2016.".

Under the provisions of the Bill, all the so-called vacant sites will be identified by the relevant authorities and the levy applied. I remind the Minister of State that when the property tax was introduced, there was no suggestion that somebody would go out and identify all the properties liable for the tax and make their owners register for it.

The onus was put on people to self-register. People were told they were obliged to register their houses. I do not understanding the thinking behind not asking the owners of vacant sites to register and giving them a certain period within which to do so. I would not like the job of looking for them all, but I imagine the sensible thing to do would be to put pressure on the owner to register. If someone tried to make the argument to me that not everybody will know whether their sites are included, I would forgive them, given that there are so many loopholes for which people might think they qualify. I would put pressure on everybody to register their sites, explain the circumstances involved and give the State authority any information it might need.

A lot of self-certification takes place, something with which I disagree. There is self-certification in building regulations, which has not worked but is continuing. The new system has simply increased bureaucracy. We are still not checking to see whether buildings have been built correctly. Architects who have not even been on site are expected to sign off on things that craftspersons, engineers or steel fixers have done on site. A four-metre beam which is supposed to have 32 mm bars at 100 mm centres at the top, bottom and middle, but instead has a 20 mm bar on the side over which concrete is poured, will stay in place. The building will not fall down, but if the bar ever comes under the pressure it was designed to take it will crack. Will an architect see that? He or she does not have a prayer. He or she is not a genius and can only see what is in front of him or her. As the bar has been covered in concrete, it will never be seen. I disagree with that end of self-certification. There should be supervision on site by the local authority in the shape of clerks of works which were in place years ago. The system made sense, but it was a cost to the State because they had to be paid. The costs should be passed on to builders and developers. We will continue to have problems in construction until independent supervision controlled by the State is reintroduced in the form of clerks of works.

I would like to hear a good argument from the Minister of State as to why he should not ask the owners of vacant sites to put their hands up and say they have sites in certain locations. They do not even need to know the size of each site, only whether it is more than one acre. The authorities could examine sites and determine whether they qualify for the site levy. Why should we not put the onus on property owners?

See this speech in context