Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy McAuliffe for sharing time. I thank the members of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, particularly the Chair, Deputy Matthews, for and commend them on their work. The 39 recommendations are interesting, to say the least. They cover quite a wide range of issues relating to urban regeneration, specifically dereliction and vacant properties. As my colleague, Deputy McAuliffe, rightly stated, we are all aware of derelict sites that have been plaguing areas across the country for many years. Many of us have been local authority members. The Derelict Sites Act is often mentioned in replies from local authorities as being the instrument they can use. There are alleged pitfalls after that. One local authority I would like to commend on the work it has done is Monaghan County Council. It has used the Derelict Sites Act several times in town centres to issue CPOs in respect of land, sites and buildings. This is not necessarily about housing specifically. It can be about land or buildings zoned for commercial use. It can also be about individual properties. It can be complex or there can be financial concerns or issues within families or various entities, but ultimately, the site being vacant or derelict causes a problem.

I agree with the committee's recommendation to establish a national register that is publicly available. We need to get to the bottom of it and to know how many sites there are. We need to segregate those that are derelict from those that are vacant. In Dún Laoghaire, there is a site that we have been in relentless contact with the local authority about. A colleague of mine on the council there, Justin Moylan, has taken up the mantle. Only after several representations about the matter did the council push the landowner to do something. It has plagued the locality for a long time.

CPOs are the last resort. It should be a matter of using the carrot and the stick and encouraging landowners to utilise sites to the best of their ability. Ultimately, if regeneration of a site is required, so be it. However, landowners must maintain their sites. The committee has done an exceptional job at coming up with these recommendations. I hope the Department will be able to take action in respect of many of them. Housing for All allows for that. I thank the committee again for its contribution.

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