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

I fully accept the Deputy’s desire that this long-running matter, which is an unfortunate legacy of our recent economic recession and is impacting on the further development of Naas, should be progressed and completed as soon as is practicably possible so that the ever-expanding town of Naas can achieve its full potential. Under Project Ireland 2040 we have set out high ambition for Naas. I know that Kildare County Council and Deputy Durkan have ambitions for Naas and we want it to be able to achieve that. Naas is a very important urban settlement in the context of the greater Dublin area and as such has been identified as a key town in the draft regional strategy for the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly area.

As I indicated earlier, it would be inappropriate for the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, or I to become involved or to make any further comment on the town centre development while a number of processes are ongoing. In any event, as I have already outlined, the law precludes us from becoming involved in specific planning cases. I do not have a role in the specifics of the arbitration process either.

As the Deputy will be aware, when a State authority compulsorily acquires land for public purposes and there is a dispute between the vendor and the purchaser regarding the amount of compensation which should be paid, the vendor can apply to the Land Values Reference Committee for the appointment of a property arbitrator to arbitrate on the amount to be paid. Property arbitrators are appointed under the Property Values (Arbitration and Appeals) Act 1960 by the Land Values Reference Committee and all property arbitrations are required by law to be held in public.

The appointment of property arbitrators is a matter for the Land Values Reference Committee. However, I do understand the frustration of Deputy Durkan regarding the arbitration-related delays that have been encountered with this project.

Kildare County Council continues to engage in advanced discussions with NAMA and the receiver in an attempt to secure a satisfactory sale of the site in question. I am hopeful that there will be a speedy and positive resolution of the issue in the near future once the outstanding legal issues have been finally resolved.

The Deputy is right. We certainly do not want to have prominent derelict sites like this. They do not help in trying to drive forward a town. They serve to remind us of a past - albeit quite recent - from which most people want to move on. Such derelict sites bring many other difficulties. Through Project Ireland 2040 funds have been provided to allow local authorities take a lead in tackling dereliction and vacancy. In many cases it is dereliction of commercial and retail property, but it may apply to properties that could be available for housing projects as well. We are urging local authorities to take a lead role in this. Kildare County Council has taken on board that message. There are various avenues of funding to help move that forward.

As Minister of State with responsibility for urban development, I want to tackle dereliction. We will strengthen the powers of local authorities to be able to deal with this in many cases. I urge them to continue their leading role.

See this speech in context