John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and thank Senator Lombard for raising this very important issue concerning local authorities and how to deal with public health issues associated with derelict buildings.

There are two legislative enactments that are particularly relevant in this area. The Derelict Sites Act 1990 requires every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure their land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. In the Act, a derelict site is defined as meaning:

... any land which detracts, or is likely to detract, to a material degree from the amenity, character or appearance of land in the neighbourhood of the land in question because of—(a) the existence on the land in question of structures which are in a ruinous, derelict or dangerous condition, or

(b) the neglected, unsightly or objectionable condition of the land or any structures on the land in question, or

(c) the presence, deposit or collection on the land in question of any litter, rubbish, debris or waste, except where the presence, deposit or collection of such litter, rubbish, debris or waste results from the exercise of a right conferred by statute or by common law.

To this end, local authorities have been given substantial powers under the Act in relation to any such sites. These powers include requiring owners or occupiers to take appropriate measures which, in the opinion of the local authority, are necessary to prevent the land in question from becoming or continuing to be a derelict site. This applies to the initial stages of dereliction. A local authority can also acquire derelict sites, either by agreement or compulsorily, and apply a derelict site levy on the registered owners of derelict sites which should be applied annually for as long as a site remains on the local authority derelict sites register.

Under the Act, local authorities are required to compile and maintain a register of derelict sites in their respective functional areas, which contains the name and address of each owner and occupier of any land which, in the opinion of the local authority, is a derelict site. A copy of the derelict sites register can be inspected at the offices of each local authority during office hours.

Section 59 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018 made a significant change to the Derelict Sites Act 1990 to provide that the derelict sites levy will increase from 3% to 7% of the market valuation of relevant sites with effect from January 2020. This increase is intended to ensure that the measure can have more meaningful impact and incentivise owners to bring derelict sites back into productive use at an early stage. This is a very significant change. It does not take away from the Acts I have already mentioned, but rather added to them.

The second legislative enactment providing local authorities with powers to address public health and safety concerns associated with derelict structures is the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act 1964. The Act is old but I believe it has been fairly effective. A dangerous structure is defined quite broadly as any building, wall or other structure of any kind that in the opinion of the local authority is likely to be dangerous to any person or property.Under the Act, local authorities are empowered: to give notice to an owner or an occupier of a dangerous structure to carry out such works, including the demolition of the structure or the clearing and levelling of the site, specified in the notice in order to prevent it from being a dangerous structure; to remove any debris and to erect a wall or barrier between any open area created by the works and any road, street or public place and to terminate or modify any use of the structure or part of the structure; and to enter land to undertake works that a local authority believes are necessary in order to prevent a structure from being a dangerous structure and to carry out the necessary works itself. It should be noted that where a local authority is obliged to undertake any works in relation to a dangerous structure, the local authority can seek to recover any costs or expenses incurred by it in undertaking such works from the owner of the property concerned.

The Act also imposes duties on the local authority to maintain a register containing the details of all orders made in relation to dangerous structures and the register must be available for public inspection. In the case of both the Derelict Sites Act and the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, failure to comply with a notice issued by a local authority is a prosecutable offence.