Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Local authorities have a legal obligation to enforce the Derelict Sites Act. They are not doing it. Deputies Browne and Cummins are the Ministers responsible.

It is as simple as that. This is a legal obligation which local authorities have and which is not being enforced. Local authorities also tell me that they do not have the staff or resources to do this work.

In reply to a question I put to him, the previous Minister informed me that he had initiated a CPO activation programme but that no data was collected to see how successful it had been. In the context of derelict sites, in recent days the roof of a cottage in Ranelagh in Dublin collapsed. A total of €140,000 in levies is owed on that site alone. Why was that money not collected and why was there no enforcement? In Cork, Good Shepherd Convent burnt down a few weeks ago. That was the fourth major fire there. There have been a dozen or so other fires at the site. Someone could have been killed. The derelict sites levy is not being enforced. There are two buildings on Narrow West Street in Drogheda that are crumbling and that people are afraid to walk past. The levy is not being enforced.

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