Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Government amendments implement the following changes which were first recommended in my Derelict and Vacant Sites Bill in February 2017 and the Green Party's Living Cities Bill 2017 which is currently part the lottery. There will be an increase in the vacant and derelict sites levy to 7%, the removal of the loophole that allows vacant sites in negative equity to hide from the levy and increased transparency in how and why vacant sites are added to the register. I warmly welcome the Government's change of heart on these issues after a long wait during which cities and town centres have been blighted by empty sites and derelict buildings fast becoming rubbish tips.

I point to the following changes recommended in the Green Party Bills that the Government is not implementing and would like to know why. In terms of process it is a pity that I am asking these questions on Report Stage. Why are vacant sites less than 0.05 ha still exempt from the vacant sites levy? That 0.05 ha measurement includes house sites the size of a basketball court, including adjoining gardens. Green Party Councillor Ciarán Cuffe has done a lot of work on sites of this size in the city of Dublin that could accommodate fantastic public housing projects.

Why is there a continued lack of public transparency in the process by which sites are entered into the derelict sites registers? We all know that the levy is not being applied by local authorities and the reasons need to be made public and questioned.

Why is there no incremental increase in the vacant sites levy as in the Derelict Sites Act? Why is the current local authority power to increase incrementally the derelict sites levy being restricted?

Does amendment No. 50 mean that the derelict sites levy will be reduced to 3% all across the country until 2020, even if it is higher in some local authority areas? We also ask why the increase from 3% to 7% is not being applied until 2020. We have waited too long already for these eyesores of derelict sites to be dealt with. Some derelict buildings have been standing for decades without the payment of levies. The changes being made at the eleventh hour could come back to haunt what overall is a move in a positive direction in dealing with vacant and derelict sites. I hope the Minister of State will give this issue some more time.