2026-01-22

139. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to collect the outstanding €26 million in derelict sites levies prior to the introduction of the derelict sites charge. [5325/26]

Will the Minister provide the House with an update on his plans to collect the outstanding €26 million in derelict site levies before the derelict sites charge comes in? I believe he is providing an amnesty to speculators and land hoarders while buildings are rotting in every town, city and village in the State.

I thank the Deputy. He will be aware that dereliction is front and centre of what I am trying to tackle as Minister for housing. The introduction of a derelict property tax, DPT, was announced in budget 2026 and the collection of this new tax will be the responsibility of the Revenue Commissioners, as set out in action 4.1 of the Government's new national housing strategy, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. This tax will replace the derelict sites levy currently operated by the local authorities under Part III of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, whereby the levy is imposed annually on sites present on local authority derelict sites registers and is collected by the local authorities. A new DPT will be introduced, and administered and collected by the Revenue Commissioners. It is intended to introduce legislation providing for the tax in the finance Bill of 2026 alongside a scoping exercise to identify derelict properties in each local authority area. Currently, the derelict sites levy is an annual levy of 7% of the market value of land identified on the derelict sites register of a local authority. The rate of the DPT is yet to be determined but it is envisaged that it will not be lower than the current derelict site levy, 7%. Subject to the necessary legislation being introduced in finance Bill 2026, preliminary registers will be published by local authorities in 2027. Local authorities will continue to have a role in the process as updating and maintaining their derelict sites registers will continue to remain the responsibility of the local authorities. Derelict sites levies that remain outstanding and owed to the local authorities when the new tax is introduced will remain as charges on the properties concerned. Action 4.3 of Delivering Homes, Building Communities confirms that local authorities will increase the number of sites on the derelict sites registers and increase the enforcement and collection of unpaid levies. My Department is engaging with the local government sector on the operation of the Derelict Sites Act and the implementation of the actions related to dereliction in the national housing strategy. Delivering Homes, Building Communities includes measures in addition to the DPT to end dereliction and provide increased numbers of new homes and revitalise the communities in villages, towns and cities. In short, it is the role of the local authorities to collect the levies, and it is up to them to do so. It is not my job to do the local authorities’ job for them; it is theirs. Unfortunately, many local authorities have failed to collect the levy to date, and that is why the role has effectively been taken off them.

That is unbelievable because the Minister told me he would not be collecting the derelict sites levy. I have come in here and asked him a straight question on whether he will ensure its collection. We now know local authorities have not been collecting it. Number one, they do not have the staff and resources.

They do.

They do not. I have spoken to them. Their officials were in front of the housing committee even before Deputy Browne was the Minister and told us they do not have the staff or resources. What the Minister is saying here now is different. Some €26 million is owed. The amount went up by €6 million in 2025 and it will go up by at least the same amount again in 2026. That means €32 million regarding houses in addition to all the others that are not on the derelict sites register. The Minister is letting those concerned get away with daylight robbery. He is the Minister for housing. Is he going to give a commitment on the floor of the Dáil today that the €26 million and any other outstanding levies will be collected? Deputy Browne is the boss and the Minister. Will he give the commitment? If not, he is only looking after the lads in the Galway tent again.

As usual, more mud to hide the lack of answers and solutions. It is the local authorities’ job to collect this money. The Deputy is right about the €32 million. Imagine that local authorities, some of which are complaining about not having enough money, are leaving €32 million uncollected. The Deputy is telling me they do not have the staff to collect it. They do and it is up to them. They are leaving this money behind because they are not collecting it. It is their job to collect it. They have the laws to collect it and they have laws to apply. They are not collecting the levy and are leaving properties derelict. Therefore, I do not accept for one second that local authorities do not have the staff to do this. They do. Imagine not collecting €32 million. It is not my job to do the local authorities’ job for them. There are thousands of staff working in the authorities and they have well-paid CEOs and directors of services. It is their job to do their job and the Deputy should not come in here, week after week, to tell me I have to do the local authorities’ job for them. It is their job to do their job, and they need to do it.

Last night I introduced a Bill to this Chamber that would have made it the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that a report would be compiled and that the Minister would answer it to ensure derelict sites levies would be collected. The Government voted it down. It was a solution, supported by the Opposition, that the Minister blocked, so he should not come in here and blame the local authorities. He is the Minister and he voted down legislation last night. Just to let the Minister know, the Land Development Agency, LDA, is seeking to be exempt from the derelict sites levy. I thank RTÉ for doing work on this. Tens of thousands of euro are owed and those concerned do not want to pay it, while buildings are rotting in Dublin and all over the rest of the State. Mayo County Council wants to take derelict site land hoarders and speculators to court. Will the Minister give it the funding to do so? Could he give a yes-no answer? Charlie Haughey introduced the derelict sites legislation in 1990, 36 years ago. The situation is worse now than ever. The Government is at fault. Deputy Browne is blaming local authorities. He is the Minister for housing - not me, Deputy Ó Broin or anyone else - so he should not pass the buck. Addressing this is his job.

Collecting the levy is actually not my job; it is the local authorities’ job, and they have the staff and powers to do it. The Deputy is right that the situation is probably worse than it was 36 years ago, but that is because the local authorities, which have the power to levy and raise money, have not been levying. We should remember this is money that would become available to them to tackle dereliction or spend on regeneration projects. The failure to collect the levy is why the role is now going to the Revenue Commissioners.

In two years’ time.

However, it is up to the local authorities to collect the money, and that is what they should be doing. It is up to the voters in the local authority areas to pull up their councillors and ask why levying has not been occurring, why properties are being left derelict and why we are giving up money that could be in the coffers for regeneration. It is not my job to go around to every local authority and do its job for it.

No, but it is the Minister’s job to make sure they do their job.

If any local authority in any other area fails to do its job, we will take the power off it.

It is the Minister’s job to make sure they do their job.

Please, Deputy Gould.

Actually, they are independent. That is the way it is set up. It is the CEO’s job.

That is it. We will move on to the next question.

We have independent local authorities here.