Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and ask him to outline the role local authorities play in addressing public health concerns arising from dereliction of privately owned buildings. Dereliction of urban areas is an issue we all need to address. The local authorities play a key role in this. Local government is a very important part of our community. It is in charge of roads, housing, business services and many other aspects of our society. When we have a dereliction or safety issue, it is important that local government acts appropriately and responsibly. Exactly 11 weeks ago, a building collapsed at about 2 a.m. in Oliver Plunkett Street, Bandon but nobody was hurt. That street is still closed off and there are signs up on buildings across the way. Ratepayers and a hotel are affected. It has had a major effect on economic activity within Bandon town and the lack of action is being commented on. Do local authorities have the power to deal with such issues? Do they have the power to engage? Can they compulsorily purchase a property to ensure access is opened again? It is a bizarre situation. If a building in Grafton Street or Patrick Street in Cork fell tomorrow morning, I do not think we would be waiting for 11 weeks for a road to be opened. Clarity is required. These are ratepayers and businesses in a proud town that wants to see action. It wants to see reopened a street that is closed off. I seek clarity on what powers local authorities have and when do they use them. If the powers are not strong enough, perhaps we need to legislate to ensure local authorities can act swiftly and competently to avoid having a street closed for three months. It could be closed for another three months for all I know. I do not know when it is going to be opened. Here in Leinster House and in the Custom House in particular, people must use their initiative to instruct the local authorities to act swiftly.

This is a big issue at present. There are derelict sites in many cities and towns and dereliction is an unfortunate issue. We are in the middle of a housing crisis and to have these sites sitting idle is a crime.How do we get these sites back into circulation and make them produce for our society? I know of a street in Innishannon, County Cork, where there are 11 idle houses. That is totally inappropriate. We have to ensure that the powers of local authorities are strong enough to enable them to deliver vibrant, strong communities. Those communities will not emerge from derelict sites and buildings.

I am looking for clarity on this matter. Do the local authorities have the power to intervene? If not, will we give them such power and, if so, can we instruct the Custom House to get actively involved and ensure the dereliction problem in many towns and villages is dealt with to improve the quality of life of communities and wider society?

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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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.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I compliment the Minister of State on his response. In the three years I have been here, I have rarely received a response that pointed out the law dealing with the issue in question. I asked if the local authority had powers to deal with the issues and it is very clear from the Minister of State's response that the 1964 Act, which is very comprehensive, gives the local authority exceptional powers to levy the cost of this on the owner of the site and provides a mechanism to recover the costs, if required. We now need the local authority to show the will to do this. It has the power but, as I asked, why is it not using this power? That is the big issue. We have proved that it has the power under the 1964 Act so I ask the Minister of State to go back to the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and ask him to engage directly with Cork County Council and ask it why it is not using the powers it has under the Act. It has the explicit power to get its money back for the works it undertakes but a street has been closed for nearly three months and could be closed for another six months. We need Cork County Council to move and to deliver on this. The Minister should get involved with this case to ensure the local authority delivers on its role as an important driver of local and community issues.

This is a very important issue locally and ratepayers will not be there in 12 months' time because of the powers under the 1964 Act not being invoked. We have the legislation, now we need goodwill and activity on the part of Cork County Council.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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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.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State and the Senator.