Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to thank my colleague, Senator Mullen, for putting forward this amendment. It is an excellent amendment. That is why I am supporting it. However, the issue is perhaps even more complex than Senator Mullen outlined. He touched on it when he mentioned the local authorities. I have many concerns about the Land Development Agency. However, one of the issues of note concerns the new master land register. It is quite extraordinary that local government auditors are constantly challenging local authorities, in their audit reports, about registration and balancing their properties and registered properties. Some local authorities have properties of which they are not aware. I know of one local authority here in Dublin which believes that it owns some land that it does not own. It is subject to a major legal challenge. It is a very substantial piece of land. I will not even mention it here, for fear of another bunch of vultures looking at it. It is in a very affluent place by the coast and is worth billions of euro. There are many issues there in relation to it.

Our planning authorities have the registers and the maps. Senator Mullen touched on the issue and spoke on it very well. He mentioned a number of local authorities that do not even have active derelict site registers. We know that there are derelict sites that are not used and are vacant. We know that local authorities have sites all over the place that are not utilised. We know that harbour and port companies have lands that are underutilised. We know that Irish Rail has very substantial lands from Wexford all the way up to Drogheda that could be utilised or are underutilised. Therefore, there is a whole range of issues. Of course, we know the other side of the issue, wherein local authorities will assert that they cannot do anything about it because when they challenge it, it goes to the board or through a judicial process that costs a fortune. From following some of the cases, we know that local authorities often lose the case. It is costing local authorities to chase them up and they are becoming disheartened.

There are many issues. However, there can be no excuses, particularly in cases where local authorities have lands that they have done nothing about. I can think of many places where local authorities have protected structures on substantial pieces of land. Of course, a protected structure is within the curtilage of the attending grounds of that building. There are limitations to that, so what do they do? They do nothing. That is really unacceptable. As the Minister of State is aware, the Land Development Agency is currently devising its masterplan. We are now in a situation whereby permission has been granted in respect of a lot of land, it has been hoarded, it is not being developed, there seems to be no penalty and there is no appetite within the local authorities to do anything. I suggest that part of that is because they have done nothing about their own issues and problems.

The Minister of State made a really strong case and articulated his points well. I hope that he will be supportive of this amendment in principle, because it is an important piece. We know it, but it has not been as well articulated as it was by Senator Mullen.