Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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642. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the progress that has been made in the establishment of a register of vacant sites in advance of the introduction of the vacant site levy due to come into operation in 2018; the guidance that is given to local authorities in the event of difficulties in identifying the ownership of a site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30177/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 introduced a new measure, the vacant site levy, which is aimed at incentivising the development of vacant, under-utilised sites in urban areas.  Under the Act, planning authorities are required to establish a register of vacant sites in their areas, beginning on 1 January 2017, and to issue annual notices to owners of vacant sites by 1 June 2018 in respect of vacant sites on the register on 1 January 2018. The levy will be applied by planning authorities, commencing on 1 January 2019 in respect of sites which were vacant and on the vacant site register during the year 2018 and will subsequently be applied on an annual basis thereafter, as long as a site remains on the vacant site register in the preceding year.

My Department issued general guidance to planning authorities on the implementation of the vacant site levy in July 2016, by way of Circular Letter PL 7/2016, entitled Implementation of the Vacant Site Levy, which is available on my Department’s website at the following link:

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Planning authorities are presently engaging in the necessary preparatory work, prior to the application of the levy with effect from January 2019 in respect of sites identified on the register in 2018.  As required under the Act, this includes the identification of specific vacant sites for entry on the register as well as the registered owners of the sites in question along with undertaking a site valuation.  Vacant site registers were established in January 2017 by planning authorities and the registers will be populated as the preparatory work progresses during the course of this year.  My Department will monitor the implementation of the levy by local authorities to ensure that it is being fully utilised, in line with its intended purpose.