Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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292. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if a dwelling can be deemed as derelict by a local authority under the Derelict Sites Act 1990, when the property is in fact lived in and has been the owner’s principal private residence for years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52736/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Derelict Sites Act 1990 (the Act) imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. The Act also imposes a duty on local authorities to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure that any land within their functional area does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. It is a matter for local authorities to determine the most appropriate use of the legislation within their respective functional areas.

A property that is lived in and occupied as the owner’s principal private residence can technically be placed on the derelict site register where it is deemed by a local authority to satisfy the criteria of a derelict site under the terms of section 3 of the Act i.e. (i) it is in a dangerous or ruinous condition; (ii) it is in a neglected or unsightly condition; or (iii) there is a presence of litter, waste or debris on the site. In such circumstances, the local authority can, as a first step under powers available to it under section 11 of the Act, issue a notice to the owner-occupier requiring the undertaking of specified steps to prevent the site from continuing to be a derelict site. Such site will remain on the derelict site register until such time as the necessary steps have been undertaken. A local authority can remove a site from the register where the necessary steps specified in the notice have been undertaken and entry on the register is deemed to be no longer appropriate. Where the necessary steps have not been undertaken by the owner-occupier, the local authority has other powers under the Act that it can avail of as necessary.