Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputies Cowen and Lawless outlined the issues the Department intends to examine. We will consider a range of carrot and stick measures. Deputy Lawless will be familiar with the Supreme Court decision on a case arising in County Kildare. That decision affects any change to legislation governing CPOs that we may consider. This is a complicated area that involves a number of statutes and legislative change cannot be introduced in one week. We will consider the issue, however.

Deputy Lawless raised an issue that is dear to my heart. Urban local authorities, especially in Dublin, have much more funding available to them through revenue generation and other State schemes. As such, they are in a position to use the legal and planning systems to a much greater degree than other local authorities and the latter may, therefore, be afraid to risk money on legal cases. Local authorities may have to make a choice between fixing a roads and footpaths or making a compulsory purchase order. CPOs require a significant investment which can go down the swanee if it does not work out. We understand the reason local authorities are reluctant to use compulsory purchase orders and we must find a way of making the legislation clearer. However, as Deputy Cowen will know given his legal background, it is difficult to design legislation that is black and white.

We must accept that a funding issue arises for local authorities. If they choose to spend money on legal cases, they put their money at risk. We must work on that. We will try to use a carrot to stimulate activity, which is the objective we all want to achieve. There is nothing worse than driving through a town or village that should be thriving and seeing dereliction. Vacant buildings need to be used to provide accommodation.

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