Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
625. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of properties which were listed on local authority derelict registers as of 31 December 2025; and the number of compulsory purchase orders initiated and completed under the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015. [5670/26]
View answerThe Derelict Sites Act 1990 imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site as defined in the Act. 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.
Each local authority maintains a Derelict Sites Register under section 8 of the Act for sites which they consider are derelict under the Act. Sites entered on the Derelict Sites Register are subject to an annual Derelict Sites Levy of 7% of the market value of the property which will continue to apply until the site is rendered non-derelict.
Local Authorities are required to submit an annual return to my Department providing information on the operation of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 in their functional areas. The derelict sites returns are collected in Quarter 2 of the following year. Derelict Site returns for 2024 are available here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/annual-returns-for-2024-received-from-local-authorities-under-the-derelict-sites-act-1990/. The latest available returns show that there were 2,140 derelict sites on Local Authority Derelict Sites Registers nationally at 31st December 2024.
The placing of sites on the Derelict Sites Register and the collecting of levies on those sites is part of the overall process that Local Authorities undertake with the owners of derelict sites they identify. Local Authorities will engage directly with site owners in the early stages of the use of the Derelict Sites Act before the site is formally listed on the Register. This direct engagement can often lead to resolution of the dereliction issues by agreement between the Local Authority and the landowner involved, which can lead to significant variation in the number of sites being formally placed on the Register across local authorities. Local Authorities have been provided with additional resources, including Town Regeneration Officers and Vacant Homes Officers, in order to enable an increased focus on tackling vacancy and dereliction issues.
A Derelict Property Tax was announced in Budget 2026 and it is intended to introduce legislation providing for the tax in 2026. When it comes into effect, the tax will replace the Derelict Sites Levy and will be collected by the Revenue Commissioners. Levies that remain outstanding when the new tax is introduced will remain as charges on the property and will be the responsibility of each local authority to collect.
My Department launched a CPO Activation Programme in 2023. This Programme requires local authorities to take a proactive, systematic approach to identifying and activating vacant and derelict properties. It includes use of their compulsory purchase powers under the Derelict Sites Act 1990 and the Housing Act 1966, when engagement with the owners of these properties is not successful in bringing them back into use.
In October 2025, my Department published data for 2023 and 2024 on the CPO Activation Programme on its website, which can be accessed at the following link: https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/bdfef028/CPO_Activation_Programme_-_LA_use_of_CPO_powers.pdf
Part 2 of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 enabled planning authorities to charge a Vacant Site Levy (VSL) on suitable sites within their administrative area. However, the VSL has now been placed by the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) which is operated by the local authorities and collected by the Revenue Commissioners.
