Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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63. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he plans to review the Derelict Sites Act 1990 and its operations; if so, the status of those plans; if his attention has been drawn to the Geo Directory Residential Buildings Report for Q4 of 2021 which has identified approximately 90,000 vacant residential properties and 20,000 derelict residential properties across the country; if his Department is considering or has plans to bring these properties back into active use; the steps taken by his Department to ensure the collection of outstanding derelict sites levies by each local authority; the guidance and or circulars that have been issued by his Department to each local authority in relation to the collection of the derelict sites levy and the manner in which this should be pursued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3277/22]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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66. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if, given his role in overseeing the vacant homes strategy, his attention has been drawn to the discrepancy between derelict units recorded in the GeoDirectory residential buildings report and those on the derelict sites register nationally; if his attention has been further drawn to the lack of implementation and collection of the derelict sites levy; and the action being taken to combat same. [3578/22]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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As I hope the Minister of State would agree, the Derelict Sites Act 1990 is in very bad need of reform. The provisions of the Act are very worthy in theory but experience has shown that it is rarely used to good effect by local authorities. Derelict properties and, separately, housing that is vacant for some time needs to be the focus with regard to turning around properties in town and city centres and bringing them back into use for housing purposes. Are there plans to reform the Act to improve its utility for those purposes?

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 63 and 66 together.

Local authorities have been provided with a number of powers and measures to deal with the issue of derelict properties both in larger urban settings and in smaller rural towns and villages. There also exists a framework of overarching policy and capital funding which provides support to development, including urban regeneration.

The Derelict Sites Act 1990 imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. The Act also imposes a duty on local authorities to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure that any land within their functional area does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. Local authority powers include requiring owners or occupiers to take appropriate measures on derelict sites, acquiring derelict sites by agreement or compulsorily, and applying a derelict sites levy on derelict sites. It is a matter for local authorities to determine the most appropriate use of the legislation within their respective functional areas.

Since 2018, my Department has requested local authorities to submit an annual return regarding the implementation of the Derelict Sites Act in respect of their functional areas and details of any new urban areas which it is proposed to prescribe for the purposes of the Act under section 21. These requests were conveyed by Circulars PL 08/2018, PL 08/2019, PL 10/2020 and PL 09/2021.

There are many reasons the number of properties on derelict sites registers may differ from the number identified on the GeoDirectory residential and commercial buildings database, including the fact that the Derelict Sites Act only applies to urban areas prescribed under section 21 of the Act. My Department continues to liaise with local authorities on the implementation of the Derelict Sites Act with a view to improving its effectiveness and continues to keep the relevant provisions under review. In this regard, in November 2021, my Department initiated a review of the Derelict Sites Act by requesting local authorities to identify issues and challenges that have arisen in the operation of the provisions of the Act and the derelict sites levy to date. The submissions received are now being examined with a view to further engagement with local authorities and to concluding the review in the current year.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State. I have some comments. Can he say when the review will be complete? This is really urgent. There is a mismatch between the register and the directory. There is no doubt about that. Nobody can say that the Derelict Sites Act is working. We know from looking around us in our own home areas that dereliction is creating significant social and economic scars in our town centres. Looking at the figures, my own home town of Drogheda accounts for approximately 1% of all vacant homes in the entire country. Dereliction is a massive problem. I give credit to groups such as Derelict Drogheda that are sequentially cataloguing some of these problems and issues. It shames us all that we do not have a defined route and plan to bring properties of this kind back into use and to prioritise them for housing. I know the Minister of State is working on his town centres first initiative. I am interested to see what his plans are and how the Derelict Sites Act can be changed to ensure that it has some utility in bringing homes into use. We must ensure that local authorities use that Act in a better fashion than at present.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Ó Broin. The Department was before the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage today and its officials enlightened me, telling me that our cities have dereliction rates that are below average. I found that an astounding comment to make. I have asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and I now ask the Minister of State, to come to Cork and walk around the city with me. I will show the Minister of State the dereliction and he can then tell me whether the rate is below average. Just to let him know, Cork City Council is trying to get things done. It is trying to get lighting for the Fairfield area, bollards removed from John F. Connolly Road and a disabilities officer but I am told that we do not have the funding. However, there is €3 million outstanding in uncollected derelict sites levies in Cork alone. There is €12.5 million outstanding across the State. The fact I got from the officials today was absolutely astounding. All three Ministers have to answer this question. There is not one official in the Department who is dedicated full-time to vacancy and dereliction. There should be a section dealing with it. There is not one person dealing with it full-time. There are 100,000 houses derelict or vacant but no one in the Department is looking after the matter. It is shocking.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for their questions. To respond to Deputy Nash, the review began in November 2021. We have received a number of submissions from right around the country. There is a workshop this Thursday that will examine the content of those submissions. I hope to make progress early this year.

I will also outline that there are a number of funding streams in place to tackle dereliction. That is important. These provide a carrot for owners of such properties to encourage them to develop them into residential units. There is a very significant project under way which aims to bring 2,500 units into use by 2025 through a local authority programme. There is also the urban regeneration and development fund, which is targeted and to which funding has been committed. It is very important that capital is committed early in the cycle, which we have done. There is also the repair and lease scheme, to which additional funding has been committed. This has been reformed. Record numbers have been brought in through that scheme in areas such as Waterford city, eliminating almost all emergency homelessness accommodation in bed and breakfast providers. We also have the buy and renew scheme under the Croí Cónaithe fund. We are also working on new regulations which I hope will be ready for next week. These will bring in planning exemptions for pubs and other properties being brought back into use as residential accommodation. The Department of Finance is also considering the vacant property tax.

It is worth noting that, between 2016 and 2019, of the 70,000 units delivered in the State, approximately 13,800 were reconnections or unfinished estates being completed. That shows the legacy challenge we are trying to meet. A large proportion of these units have come from the vacant and derelict sector. There is a great amount of work going on. We continue to engage with local authorities to ensure they are resourced to bring properties back into use as they are best placed to do so. I hope the towns first policy will enable them and support them in that work.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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There is much talk of carrots but very little talk of sticks. We have waited far too long for a vacant sites tax and some form of "use it or lose it" levy that would be applied to derelict sites. I said earlier that the dereliction we see all around us shames us. It has significant societal, social and economic impacts. The derelict sites that are available to us present a great opportunity for renovation, refurbishment and being brought into use for housing. We speak a lot about developing new sites and even infill sites in towns and city centres. However, we do not focus as much as we ought to on derelict sites. I know the Minister has spoken publicly about the provision of grants of up to €30,000. Is the idea that this would be a grant to purchase a property or a grant to refurbish a property? Is it significant and substantial enough to enable us to tackle this issue comprehensively?

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am not sure if the Minister of State will remember but last May I asked him for an increase in funding for full-time vacant home officers in every local authority. At that time, he said that it would be inappropriate for the Government to intervene in local authority staffing. However, in November, the Department said that every local authority should have a full-time vacant homes officer. In other words, it took six months for the Minister of State to make up his mind on what I said last May. I appreciate him listening to me but he only increased the funding from €50,000 to €60,000. I suppose this speaks to how Sinn Féin brings forward solutions only for it to take months for the Government to listen. It sometimes takes years for it to listen to poor Deputy Ó Broin. However, when it does listen to us, that shows that we have the solutions. Here we are now.

The Minister of State accused me of speaking out of both sides of my mouth. Then he went away and implemented the policy that we asked him to. What I am saying now is that we are looking for full-time vacant home officers and full-time derelict home officers. We are seeking to end the scourge of dereliction because it is destroying communities like the one I represent right across the country. Does the Minister of State realise how difficult it is when people who do not have homes are passing empty homes?

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate that a huge effort is being made right across the Government through the numerous schemes I have mentioned to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use. The State is serious about employing both a carrot and stick approach in that regard. Regarding the Croí Cónaithe cities fund to which the Deputy referred, it is aimed to have regulations issued shortly for a first-time buyer's grant to enable the purchasing of derelict properties. That scheme will be an asset to the State. Therefore, we have a great deal of work under way in that regard. There is, however, a great deal of hypocrisy going on with Deputy Gould. It is almost like a comic stand-up when he comes up laughing and joking

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Check the minutes of the meeting.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is the only one laughing here as far as I can see.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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What do they say? The Minister of State said he could not do it and then he did it.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is the only one laughing here, as far as I can see. In the first instance-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Some of us are correct.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I ask the Deputy to let me continue without interruption, please. I did not interrupt the Deputy once. That is his problem. He keeps interrupting and is unable to listen. For someone talking about listening to vulnerable people in his constituency office, which I do every week, the Deputy finds it difficult to listen to people here. That surprises me. I see vulnerable people every week looking for the housing solutions we are working so hard to deliver, while I also see the Deputy's party engaging in the blocking of housing developments. That is happening right across the country, whether involving public housing on public land being blocked by the Deputy's party or numerous developments-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Fianna Fáil voted down social housing in Cork in 2018.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I am referring to the Deputy.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The brother of the Taoiseach, the leader of the Fianna Fáil party, was one of the people who voted it down.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy's party is voting against numerous developments-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Check the records of the council.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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-----week after week.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Fianna Fáil voted down social housing in Cork.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy's party has one common thread on housing. It is oppose, oppose and oppose again.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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No, that is not true.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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That can be seen right across the city councils and our network of 31 local authorities. As I said about public houses on public land, Sinn Féin voted that down in Wicklow. That is a fact. The Deputy can dress it up anyway he likes and talk out of both sides of his mouth in this Chamber, but those are the facts.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Hear, hear.