John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I received this question I carried out an assessment of the situation. I was a councillor for a number of years, like the Senator, and I looked at the Derelict Sites Act 1990, as well as the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018. With these Acts and the 1964 Act, it appears that local authorities have sufficient powers. The problem is that it is a matter for individual local authorities to determine the most appropriate use of what powers are available to them. I am not in position to say, but maybe an assessment should be done by the Department of how many times local authorities have used the Acts of 1964, 1990 or 2018 in respect of derelict sites and whether the Acts have had any impact.

In 2020 there will be an increase in the levy on market valuations from 3% to 7% but the Senator is right that sufficient powers exist for local authorities in the three Acts referred to. It is a question of whether they use those powers and how often they do so. I am only speaking on behalf of the Minister but I read the legislation this morning.What is probably necessary and what would be a useful exercise is carrying out an assessment of local authorities to assess how many derelict sites there are and identify how many times under any of the Acts the owners or occupiers have been contacted. What the Senator said is right. If he sends me the details of the particular case with which he is dealing, I guarantee that they will be passed on to the Minister.