Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

For me, the most fundamental section in this Bill is section 3 which redefines what a derelict site is. Any of us who have had the pleasure of serving on a council are perhaps familiar with how frustrating it can be to try to get a house onto the derelict sites list. We will never get it off the list if we do not get it on and getting it on is that lever to deliver. The story I tell frequently is of three houses in a row in my council area, all of which were boarded-up. They were all boarded-up with steel, dilapidated and covered with graffiti. Of these three houses in a row, only one was on the derelict sites list and that was the one in the middle that had a hole in the roof and a tree growing out of it. A house has to have a giant hole in the roof and a tree growing out of it to be considered derelict. If a house being boarded-up, empty, and covered in graffiti is not bad enough to get on the derelict sites list, then there is a fundamental problem with the definition. It is excellent to see legislation being proposed to improve that because we need to get houses on that list to be able to use that leverage.

In the absence of local government reform, we find many areas where the council's ability to operate is curtailed by a circular from the Department. The existing legislation is broad and vague and that is part of the problem. What would help the local authorities is a circular from the Department helping to define the dereliction under the current legislation. It is very broad and perhaps what would help is a set of guidelines saying this is what a derelict site is and this is how it should be assessed. What should go in that circular? Section 3 should go into it. It is a well-drafted section that significantly improves the definition of dereliction so that we can begin to tackle this urban rot. It is not just a rot that is eating away at our communities. These are houses that could be housing people. They cannot be ordered for compulsory purchase until they get on that dereliction list. Let us get the houses on that list and let us amend the definition to get them on it. Until we pass this legislation, which is something we should do, I hope the Minister of State can consider using the power of the ministerial circular to use the criteria here to amend the definition as operated by authorities.

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