Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members]

Deputy Thomas Gould

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

This Bill aims to finally end the non-collection of derelict sites levies and to force transparency on the reasons why the levies are not being collected. Since the introduction of the derelict sites levy 35 years ago in 1990, we have heard excuse after excuse as to why the levy is not being collected. In 2023, less than 10% of the levies that were owed were actually collected. This does not go into the number of sites that were not on the derelict sites register or the number of sites to which the levy was not actually applied. This Bill would require every local authority that does not collect 75% or more of the derelict sites levy to produce a report as to why it was not collected and what plans the local authority will put in place to ensure its collection. This Bill also requires the Minister then to engage with those local authorities as to why it is not happening and what needs to be done. Is it resources? Is it supports? This would end the blame game whereby local authorities blame the Minister in the Department and vice versa. This puts a requirement on everyone to solve the derelict sites levy and make sure that it is collected.

As regards the impact of this, it will not solve dereliction overnight. It will not end the blight of dereliction in the towns, the villages and the cities. As to what it will do, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for far too long have been cosying up to landholders, speculators and developers - their buddies - and allowing them to get away with this. Is there any law that was brought in over 35 years ago that has been so disrespected and abused? The Government that brought it in - because this was brought in by Fianna Fáil - has allowed this to happen. If an ordinary man on the street got a parking ticket or did something wrong and got a fine, the local authority would force him to pay his parking fine. If he did not, the local authority would bring him to court. If, however, you are a landholder or a speculator and you owe hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of euro, what does this Government do? It lets you off. Once again we have here one rule for the rich and the wealthy and another rule for ordinary people. This allows speculators to get away scot-free. Then they sit in these properties that destroy communities and they see the value of their investment go up. Where is the justice? Where is the law? Where is the right for ordinary people? This Government has given an amnesty to speculators not to pay the derelict sites tax. Over €20.5 million is owed in derelict sites levies. If we ever needed proof that this Government was more interested in looking after speculators and issuing nice press statements, we see it with what happened in the budget. We have a housing crisis. This will not solve the housing crisis but it is a small step. This is a solution we are bringing forward. The one thing we hear from the Government all the time is "The Opposition do not bring forward solutions". This is a solution. This is a positive step. Why will the Minister not support it?

This will be a self-reported tax that will be collected by the Revenue, the same as the vacant homes tax, another damp squib the Government brought in.

Just to give an idea, there are between 90,000 and 140,000 vacant homes in the State, depending on whether you look at CSO figures or GeoDirectory. Does the Minister know how many homes the vacant homes tax was paid for? It is less than 2,500, which is 2% of vacant homes. That was the Minister's solution. Some 98% of people get away scot-free and 2% of people are put on the register, which does not charge enough. As if that is not bad enough, the Minister announced the derelict sites tax and then said that, as Minister for housing, he would have a war on dereliction. That is a load of bull because the tax does not come in until 2027. I am not sure how the Minister's maths work out, but from last year's budget to when the tax comes in will be at least two years. Think of all the derelict site levies that will not be collected, plus the €20 million that is already owed, and then the Minister says it will not come in until 2027. How can he describe that as a war on dereliction? How can he stand over that? Why is that levy not being paid today? It should have been paid since 1 January.

What the Minister has done, instead of having a war on dereliction, is have an amnesty on dereliction. This Bill is only an interim measure that will end that amnesty and put in place plans to collect more and collect the €20 million that is currently owed to the State. If ordinary people owe money to the State, they have to pay it. If people have not paid their local property tax, it comes out of their salary, but if they do not pay hundreds of thousands on derelict properties, they are all right. The Minister tells them he knows them and they are sound. These people are letting billions rot in the heart of communities. I invite the Minister again to walk the streets of any town, village or city with me. If he walks around Dublin today, he will see derelict buildings, dirt, rubbish and antisocial behaviour. How can he stand over that?

In 2024, this Government - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - and RTÉ brought 5,400 people to court for not paying their TV licence, at a total cost of €864,000. When the ordinary man on the street does not pay the €160 for his TV licence, he will be dragged to court, but when someone owes tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of euro, they get away with an amnesty. When will those people and companies go to court? They should be brought to court for the destruction they are doing to communities. Instead, the Minister is giving them an amnesty.

I am not sure where the Minister comes from or how much dereliction there is in his area, but in the area that I represent, and in the areas of other TDs here, we see first-hand the destruction dereliction causes. Can the Minister imagine people growing up with a house or building next door that is derelict? Can he imagine the negative effects that has on children and the environment they are growing up in? This is about more than finance. This is about quality of life, protecting communities and not letting speculators get away scot-free. If they are not going to use the buildings, they should be the subject of compulsory purchase orders for housing. If that is not the case, they should be used for youth clubs, community centres, boxing clubs, the arts and dance. I was talking about it with a TD here. Youth groups, sporting groups and voluntary organisations that are crying out for buildings see these empty, destroyed buildings in their community, while they have none or are struggling to pay for the buildings they have.

The antisocial behaviour and dumping in the heart of some communities are shocking. In areas that are crying out for housing, decent, hard-working people are going to work every day and looking at derelict buildings. Community groups, local authorities and sporting organisations can be pulled together to turn these derelict buildings into housing or make them suitable for community buildings. There is also the business community. There are probably people who want to start or expand their businesses, but they are looking at a derelict building next to them that is preventing them from taking the opportunity to create more business, hire more people and be a positive impact on the community.

A number of issues are involved here. These buildings are not just derelict. They are an insult to people, because they could be worth more. They could be vibrant places that have a positive impact on communities. They could be an asset but, instead, they are left to rot. There are currently thousands of homeless children living in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. How heartbreaking must it be for parents to be in emergency accommodation and, at the same time, have to look at derelict buildings that could be turned into homes?

The Minister said he wants to solve the housing and homelessness crisis. For years, I have taken Ministers at their word, but I have to judge the Minister on his actions. If he is not going to tackle dereliction today and take it on head first, then I cannot believe his words because I look at his actions. People who cannot buy a house, rent a house or get on the social housing list, for different reasons, are looking at these boarded-up, derelict houses. They say to me, "Tommy, how is that right?" It is not just one place. I have met people from Dundalk, Limerick, Cork, Dublin, and all over.

Last year, I went up the west coast, through Sligo, Galway and all the way up to Donegal. I saw cottages empty and derelict, where families could live if they were supported. Behind my office was a building that was derelict. I put it up on Facebook. I was contacted by a lady who was born and reared in the house. Her family was raised there and sold the house. There are now holes in the roof and the windows are broken. The only ones living in the house now are the pigeons of Cork. I am not trying to be smart or make a joke of it. There is a house in the centre of the city that was left to rot. Through his actions, the Minister will continue to allow that to happen. The lady who contacted me was angry and frustrated because she had a great experience growing up in that home and she was hoping the next people to live in it would have the same experience, but they did not. She sent me photographs of her family when they were growing up in this house, which is off Shandon Street, showing the life that they had. The house was immaculate and spotlessly clean. It was a beautiful home that has been left to go to rack and ruin.

This legislation will force local authorities which do not collect 75% of their levies to take action to produce a report about why and when that will happen and it will force the Minister to engage with them to ensure that it does. If the Minister is genuine, I ask him to accept the Bill. For far too long in this country, there has been an old boys' club. It has been a case of not upsetting Johnny because Johnny is sound and one of our own. We have to start upsetting Johnny because there are land hoarders and speculators who do not give a damn about the communities they are in.

The Government has a big job to solve the housing crisis and dereliction. This is a start. We are trying to come up with solutions. It is not just me but all of the Opposition. We will work with the Government but, from what I can see, the Government will not work with us. No matter what solutions we bring forward, the Government is not interested.

We have advocated for years for something along the lines of the new derelict sites tax the Minister will be introducing in 2027. We think such a tax is the right way to bring in revenue.

I will leave the Minister with this. On Tuesday night, I spent 11 hours with a family member in a hospital accident and emergency department in Cork. Nine homeless people were in there, and I got to talking to them. Does the Minister know why they were in the accident and emergency department in Cork on Tuesday night? It was because it was freezing outside. They came in out of the cold to get a bit of heat. This is how bad the homelessness and housing crisis is in Cork. This Bill will not solve the whole problem, but it would be a start in tackling dereliction.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

Hear, hear.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)

I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I am opposing the Bill because the Government's proposals far exceed what is being proposed by the Opposition. We have gone beyond what is in the Bill by bringing in the derelict property tax.

The Deputy spent a long time criticising the existing regime, but the only solution he offered is to keep it in place and increase the administrative requirements relating to reporting. That is the height of it. We are getting rid of it because it is totally ineffective. It is not ineffective because of the Government, which brought in the existing scheme; it is ineffective because the local authorities are not applying it.

Every solution the Deputy brings forward always ticks one of a couple of boxes. It is either to write a blank cheque for local authorities or to give them a free pass and ask me to step in and do the job for them. We either trust local government to do its job or we do not. Where it does not do what is required, we either take the power from it or give power to it where it needs to have it. In this case, local authorities have proved totally ineffective. I agree with the Deputy that the levy has not been applied. That is probably because of lobbying at a local level. That is, however, at a local level. We are going to get the Revenue Commissioners to collect this tax. Unlike the Deputy's proposal whereby if 25% or more of revenue is not being collected, a report should be compiled and we should debate it, we are giving responsibility for this matter to the Revenue Commissioners. I do not accept a threshold of 25%. There should be 100% collection of the derelict sites levy. I see dereliction as antisocial behaviour.

As far as I am concerned, rent seekers are responsible for what is happening because they are leaving their properties derelict. Regardless of whether you are a socialist or a capitalist, I am of the view that those properties should not be in the hands of the people to whom I refer. I am sure the socialist view would be that the properties should be taken from them. From a capitalist perspective, they should be forced to bloody sell them to people who would actually make proper use of them. Dereliction does not meet any ideology, and I have been very strong and clear in my comments on the matter. That is why I am opposing the Bill. I understand the intent behind the Deputy's Bill. I agree with that intent, but I think he is taking the wrong mark in pointing at me or the Government, because it is the local authorities that have failed to use the existing legislation, which is strong enough but which is not being used. We are going to bring in new legislation to tackle this problem.

We are doing an awful lot to tackle dereliction. One aspect of that involves strengthening the rules around how we charge people for dereliction and effectively try to compel them to do something with their properties. Ideally, they should fix up their properties or sell them to those who will actually use them. We are also taxing them in relation to their properties. We are also using a lot of carrots. We are supporting people to be able to acquire properties. Tackling dereliction and vacancy, whether in our villages, provincial towns or cities, is the other side of the coin, and it is so important that we tackle both.

In the context of how the new legislation will work, the tax will be legislated for in this year's Finance Bill. This will be followed by a preliminary national register of derelict properties in 2027. Local authorities will still identify and assess derelict sites through their derelict sites registers. Crucially, the tax will be collected by the Revenue Commissioners. This will provide consistency and effectiveness in tax collection and enforcement. While the final rate of the tax still has to be confirmed, it is anticipated it will certainly be no lower than 7% of a property's market value. I certainly would not like to see any lower than that. By international standards, a rate of 7% is actually very high. The problem, as the Deputy rightly states, is that the levy is not being applied. This is why we are giving its collection to the Revenue Commissioners, which is effective in applying and collecting this type of levy. I recently met the deputy mayor of Paris, who is a member of the Communist Party, who is in awe of our rate of 7%. As I acknowledged when speaking to him, the problem here is that it is not being applied and collected. That is what I want to address.

Importantly, the future collection of the derelict property tax will not be the responsibility of the local authorities. As a result, the amendments proposed in this Private Members' Bill for a new section 23A to be inserted into the Derelict Sites Act 1990, which would require local authorities to report on their levy collective activities, are redundant.

I want to highlight that the derelict property tax forms part of a wider package of measures. I refer here, for example, to the work of the vacant homes officers and town regeneration officers in local authorities, the implementation of the vacant homes action plan, a related resourcing of funding supports, the funding included in call 3 of the urban regeneration development fund and the vacant property refurbishment grant, which provides up to €70,000 in grant support. There has been significant interest in the grant since its launch, with 15,600 applications made to local authorities to date and over €230 million in funding paid out across the country. In December, I announced a new enhanced support package of up to €140,000 to bring vacant above-the-shop properties in our cities, towns and villages back into use. This package will be available from quarter 1. A compulsory purchase order activation programme was launched by my Department in April 2023. I also highlight THRIVE funding, the town centre first heritage and revival scheme, which represents a transformative opportunity, the living city initiative, which is a tax incentive scheme that has been extended in the recent budget, and the recently published national housing action plan, Delivering Homes and Building Communities.

The Deputy and I agree that dereliction is an absolute blight on our society. However, he is misidentifying the cause of the problems relating to application and collection. We are of the view that we need to have a really robust collection method. The amount collected should be 100%, and that is why we are bringing in the amendments I have outlined to tackle dereliction. Dereliction is totally unacceptable and is a form of antisocial behaviour. I have said it before and I say it again - the people who own derelict properties are little more than rent seekers. Under my watch, there will be nowhere for them to hide when it comes to dereliction.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

I commend my colleague Deputy Gould on bringing forward this very simple but sensible legislation. Leaving homes derelict in the middle of the deepest housing crisis in the modern history of the State is akin to hoarding food during a famine. This is a comment that I and many other Members of this House have made repeatedly. I note with some interest the language the Minister has started to use with respect to dereliction. He has used it again here by using terms like "antisocial behaviour" and "war on dereliction". In a recent interview, he stated that if he had his way, he would make dereliction a crime.

The problem I have is that I have been on this side of the Chamber for a decade and this is the fourth Minister with responsibility for housing to make these type of promises regarding dereliction. I have learned the hard way not to take those promises at face value and to judge people on the basis of delivery. The difficulty after a decade of having had four Ministers and four housing plans is that the record of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in terms of tackling vacancy and dereliction is, quite frankly, appalling. I do not believe the Minister said anything that is going to make that difference.

Simon Coveney had an entire pillar of his housing plan in 2016 dedicated to vacancy and dereliction. He introduced a plethora of new initiatives, including buy and renew, repair and lease and the rolling Housing Agency fund, all of which were abysmal failures in terms of the promises he made regarding bringing back into use the quantum of vacant and derelict homes. Those initiatives continue to exist and limp on ineffectively. In effect, they have been abject failures.

When Eoghan Murphy became Minister, following a very sensible proposal from former Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, he was asked by Leo Varadkar to investigate the idea of a vacant property tax. He studied the idea and came back with proposals, but he was told by Leo and Paschal that it could not proceed. Again, Eoghan Murphy's record as Minister in bringing back the tens of thousands of vacant and derelict homes that lie idle across the State was an abysmal failure.

Then Darragh O'Brien arrived. Again, the record is very poor. The only major initiative he announced was the vacant property refurbishment grant. It took three years to get up and running. They had to change the rules of the scheme on three separate occasions. Finally, people are now able to draw it down, although significantly, that scheme still excludes huge numbers of people who have applied and have been approved because payments are not made on a stage basis - a key reform of the scheme we have urged the Government to take.

When we eventually got to see the vacant property tax, this actually was not going to be a meaningful tax collected by Revenue on the tens of thousands vacant homes across the State. As Deputy Gould has outlined, the actual number of property owners being charged this tax is tiny and the level of the tax is very low. That is why many of us treat with great scepticism the proposal by the Government to transfer the derelict sites levy to Revenue for derelict sites tax. It is not just that the Minister is delaying it. In fact, I think Deputy Gould is being generous to him. I do not believe a cent of that tax will be collected until 2028 based on previous experience. How many will actually pay it? On the evidence of the mishandling of the vacant property tax, we could have a situation where not only is it delayed for a long period, but many of those who should be paying it do not. In his speech, the Minister listed a whole series of other initiatives - initiatives that have been around for a long period. Sure, they make small incremental changes in some locations, but in terms of tackling vacancy and dereliction with the ambition and the scale that is required, the Minister is simply repeating the same propositions as his predecessors. That is why, on this side of the House, there is such scepticism.

It is pretty disingenuous to dismiss legislation by an Opposition Member because it is not dealing with the totality of vacancy and dereliction. The Minister knows as well as I do that we cannot bring Bills here that place a charge on the State. He also knows, as he does often as Minister, that small, sensible propositions can be very effective while addressing the broader issues. Let us just look at the broader issues to remind him what Sinn Féin's policy is on the areas beyond Deputy Gould's proposals. First, at the very centre of our alternative approach to tackling dereliction and vacancy is putting tackling it at the very centre of public housing provision. This State should be funding and delivering in the region of 25,000 social, affordable rental and affordable purchase homes each year, more than double what is currently being produced. There should be targets within local authorities for a percentage of those homes to come from vacant and derelict stock. To do that, the Government would have to reform the way in which it funds local authorities to tackle vacancy and dereliction. Currently the Department does not provide funding to a local authority that wants to buy a vacant or derelict property through CPO and refurbish it to bring it back into use. On top of that, the Minister's predecessor and his predecessor before him promised to reform CPO legislation, which is completely unfit for purpose and unable to tackle the issues at hand.

We also need a single vacant and derelict property tax - a punitive vacant and derelict property tax - that is actually applied and collected as a matter of urgency. How can the Minister stand there and expect us to take him seriously when he says he is going to wage a war on dereliction but just not right now, next year or probably not even the year after that? That is the kind of war that anybody who tried to wage it would lose and would lose immediately. Deputy Gould has been very upfront. He has made it clear that this is not going to tackle all of the problems, but in the meantime - during the two or three years while the Minister and his colleagues are dithering and not introducing a Revenue-collected tax - this would at least force local authorities to put on record what the Minister says are their failures, and then allow us to force him to do something about those.

It seems to me what the Minister is saying in respect of the derelict sites tax is, at some point in the future it will be there, but in the meantime, he is accepting the status quo. That is what I am hearing on this side of the House. The fact that this is the position the Minister has taken, and he is not even willing to accept and work with my good colleague's Bill, tells me he is not serious about this. The Minister can have all of the nice catchphrases and soundbites he likes, but he is the man in charge. He is the person who can actually bring forward the proposals to dramatically increase and accelerate not just the total output of social and affordable homes, but the number of those homes that are taken from vacant and derelict stock. He is the man who, once and for all, could actually finally reform the vacant property refurbishment grant to make it fully fit for purpose. He is the man who could introduce the CPO reform legislation to make it quicker and more cost effective for local authorities and State agencies to access those properties. Yes, he has some years to go yet in office, but so far, in his first year in office, I see nothing whatsoever from him that is going to address vacancy and dereliction this year.

Again, Deputy Gould quoted figures from geodirectories and the census. For me, one of the most shocking figures from the most recent census is that about 40,000 homes were vacant between the two censuses. Not only have we high levels of vacancy and dereliction, but the length of time they are vacant or derelict is unacceptably long. If the Minister was really serious, if this was a war and he wanted to make it a crime, if he really believed it was antisocial behaviour, there would be a level of urgency and a willingness to work with the Opposition to tackle those issues. We have not heard any of that here today.

Here is my prediction: in two, three or four years' time - whatever amount of time this Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Lowry lackey Government limps on for - somebody standing on this side of the House will not just be mentioning the failures of Simon Coveney, Eoghan Murphy or Darragh O'Brien in tackling vacancy and dereliction; the name of James Browne will be added to that sad and sorry list of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Ministers who talk the right talk, but when it comes to action and delivery, fail. Just as the Minister is presiding over record levels of homelessness, record rents, record house prices and the slowest rate of social and affordable housing delivery in recent times, so too is he going to fail on vacancy and dereliction. Why? Because he is offering nothing new, and nothing different from his predecessors. They failed, and so too will he. Who will be the losers? They will be the very people who my colleague spoke about - those in desperate need of social, affordable or private to purchase homes. Those are the people he is letting down. We will not let up on holding the Minister to account so long as he is in office. We will not stop bringing forward sensible, credible proposals to tackle these problems.

Deputy Louise O'Reilly

I want to start by thanking Deputy Gould and his office for bringing forward this legislation and for all of the work they do and continue to do on this serious issue. When people look in at the proceedings of the Dáil, at least they see that some people are interested in taking action on dereliction. They also see the Government and its complete lack of interest in it. I am struggling a little to understand what point the Minister is trying to make. On the one hand he told us that the legislation that exists is good and is fit for purpose. On the other hand he tells us that we all have to wait because the Government is bringing in new legislation.

I am also struggling to understand the reluctance to enact this sensible legislation, which, as has been outlined already, will not fix all of the problems the Government has created and the disaster it has made of housing, but will make a contribution. In truth, if the Minister was interested in solving the problem of dereliction, he would be listening to Deputy Gould and working with Deputy Gould but he is not. His script, as he read it out to us this evening, tells me exactly that. There is a level of arrogance there that I do not think belongs in the mouth of a person who has presided over 17,000 homeless people, 6,000 of whom are children. A little bit of humility might go a long way. I understand that is not necessarily how he wants to be. He should reflect on where we are because he has been in some form of government - confidence and supply and all the rest of it - for ten years. In those ten years, we have seen so many lives destroyed by the Government's housing crisis.

The housing crisis has been created by Government policy. It has not been solved by Government policy and I am sure not even the Minister would be arrogant enough to try to claim that. Of course, it has got worse. Numbers and facts do not lie. The Minister certainly could not come in here and claim to have any achievements in the area of housing while there are 17,000 people in emergency accommodation. The Minister and I both know that is an underestimation of the actual number of people who do not have somewhere secure to live. As we all know, somewhere secure to live is so important. It means that you can build every other aspect of your life. Yet, there are thousands and thousands of people who do not have somewhere secure to live. They cannot start a family. They cannot build their lives. They cannot get their career going. They are stuck. They are stuck in their ma's back bedroom. They are stuck in overcrowded accommodation. They are stuck sofa surfing or they are saving for a one-way ticket to Australia.

The Minister said himself that dereliction is a form of antisocial behaviour. It causes antisocial behaviour. It causes dumping. If a person is living in an estate where there is a derelict house - I doubt there are too many of them in the leafy suburbs surrounding here but there are plenty in the area that I represent - as sure as night follows day there will be black bags in the front garden. There will be kids messing in it and broken windows. All of those things happen. It is then left there for years. I had a woman in my clinic on Monday who lives in a small three-bedroom house in Balbriggan. It is herself, her husband, her daughter, their four children and two sons, one of whom has a partner and another who has occasional access to his child. That is ten, 11, 12 and sometimes 13 people living in a small modest house. She asked me a fairly simple question as to why there was a boarded-up house down the road from her. She named the number and has been onto the council plenty of times about it. What is the answer? Government policy is that is fine and that there is no urgency to get rid of that boarded-up house. There is no urgency to turn that into a home for her daughter and four children who are in one room, that is, a mam and four kids in one small bedroom. She looked at that derelict house and had a very simple question as to why that house was still derelict. She asked why she had to walk past that when she goes to work every single day when she knows it would be perfect for her daughter and her daughter would keep it well. Her neighbours ask the same questions such as why there are rats running in and out of that house and why that house is derelict in the middle of a housing crisis.

Why is that, when the Minister says he is going to war on dereliction? Going to war, is it? It does not feel like he is going to war. It feels like he is quite all right with dereliction and thinks it is okay because it can wait. The claim he is going to war on dereliction would be funny if it was not so bloody serious. He is not fighting for ordinary people in his war. He is fighting against ordinary people in his war. He is not fighting for people who need somewhere to live in his war. He is fighting against those people but he is prepared to put up a fairly substantial fight to ensure that any levies that are collected will not be collected this year or next year and possibly will not be collected the year after that. All of that can wait. Meanwhile, people who have nowhere to live, are living in overcrowded accommodation, emergency accommodation, hubs or hostels and who cannot start their lives look at vacant and derelict houses and buildings and ask themselves a simple question, "How is that allowed to happen?" It is because the Minister facilitates it. He says he thinks it should be crime. He is in the Government for Jesus's sake. If he wanted it to be a crime, he would be talking to the Minister for justice but he does not. That is just something that he says. He says that he wants it to be crime. It is not. He is in the Government. Any Government that has presided over 17,000 homeless people is clearly not pulling every single lever and is not talking to every single Member of the Opposition and the Government for ideas because clearly, the Minister does not have any. What he has tried has not worked. He could not come in here and claim to be a success story. I am sure he would not. I am sure he is ashamed. I am sure that when he goes home and thinks about those 17,000 people, including 6,000 children, he is a little bit ashamed. However, if he was serious about it, he would be talking to Deputies Gould and Ó Broin and other people on the Opposition benches and on his own benches. He would try everything and anything if he was serious about tackling the scourge of dereliction.

Does the Minister not see how inadequate is his proposal that we wait until 2027 or 2028 until money starts coming in or maybe even after that? Does he not understand? What if a person like that mam was looking in here - I told her that we would be having a debate today so she might be watching and I certainly will tell her to look back on the debate - was to hear him talking about his war on dereliction? She would ask me what does the war on dereliction mean and when is the war coming to Balbriggan. She would ask me when is the Minister bringing his war on dereliction to the people of Balbriggan. It is possibly 2027 or maybe 2028. Jesus Christ. Regarding the mental ill health that people suffer from living in overcrowded accommodation, imagine listening to the Minister. There is no sense of urgency coming from him at all. He had a few potshots at the Opposition and that is fine. It a bit of ding-dong and back and forth. He did not offer anything that tells me that he believes or understands that there is a crisis now. There are people who are making shed loads of money out of this crisis. The Ministers knows that there are people making shed loads of money and he is okay with that. Shame on him.

Deputy Ken O'Flynn

I welcome the Bill, have read through it on a number of occasions and thank those who brought the Bill together and assembled it. The Bill tells us quickly, however, and I am sure the Minister will admit it himself that the system is broken. Unfortunately, the Bill does not fix it. It is a good attempt but it needs a little bit of fine tuning. It creates more reporting without guaranteed actions. It risks become a box-ticking exercise. There are no penalties for councils that fail or repeatedly fail. There are no performance targets in the Bill. There are no obligations on the Minister to intervene.

I am happy to work with my colleagues in Sinn Féin to give my thoughts and feed into the Bill as well. What I am saying is not a criticism. At least you are doing something. When we hear people saying that it will be 2027, as my colleague said about "war on dereliction", they are great words. However, they are not much comfort to the people who meet in our constituencies, including the Minister's constituency. He must be meeting the same as us if he is facing the public these days.

When I ask people how I can assist them, they will tell me that their daughter has been on the housing list for ten years in Cork County Council, Cork City Council, Limerick City and County Council, Wexford County Council or wherever. They will say that there are two houses down the end of the street that have been vacant for the past five or seven years and that would be perfect for her. They come along to Cork City Council and ask why this stock is not being turned around. The council will be very honest with people and will say that its allocation from the Government is not enough money to repair the property.

Deputy Thomas Gould

That is right.

Deputy Ken O'Flynn

It is being allocated €11,000 or €12,000 per year to bring properties back into property stock. The cost of an average composite door now for a front door of a house is €2,500. That is what a person will pay. Most people have to go to the credit union for a loan to get it if they are in private houses. There are then all the criteria and laws that are there. If a house is made vacant by a local authority or has been handed back to the local authority, the fire marshal goes in and says, "You have to get rid of this, you have to get of that and you have to get rid of the other. You have to take out the kitchen. You have to take out the lovely glass doors. You have to seal up the bannisters in case you get sued. We have to check this, check that and the other." It is bringing thousands of extra euro to the cost of it. I do not know about the rest of my colleagues in here but I do not know how many people have said to me that were the house given to them as it stands, they had a brother who was an electrician, a cousin who was a plumber and had somebody who would help them out if they were given a small relaxation on the rent over the next two years to bring it up to a standard. The house could be inspected on a regular basis and they ask if the house could be handed over to them. I have gone to the local authorities and they have said they cannot and their hands are tied.

In fairness to Cork City Council, which I served on with my colleague, Deputy Gould, for 18 years, it has the highest rate of levy collection nationally. There has to be great credit. There has been a huge turnaround in a positive way since Valerie O'Sullivan became the chief executive of the council.

I see dereliction everywhere. I see dereliction in Cork City Council and Cork County Council areas, mainly because funding has not come through and big enough funds are not available. Houses are sitting idle and this is horrifying. As the story goes, people see a house they say would be perfect for their daughter. Imagine passing it every day and thinking about family members sleeping on a pop-up bed in their front room while there is an empty house. This is what we are dealing with. I do not know whether the Minister can fathom this or work it out but this is what is going through people's minds. They are wondering why and what is wrong with the system when they hear the Minister say he is at war with dereliction.

Something that was very well brought in was the refurbishment grant. It is a great system but, unfortunately, it is not working to its maximum. The payment structure is wrong. It is very slow to pay out and it is difficult to negotiate and get through. It needs to be sped up and we need to put more investment into it.

I want to speak about the residential zoned land tax. It is important to mention this in the debate. Some people love to say developers and builders are the worst in the world and that they are trína chéile with this fellow, that fellow and the other fellow but not every developer is a bad guy, a bad agent or a bad actor. I know of somebody in Blarney with residential zoned land who went to Cork City Council for planning permission. Planning permission was granted by the council for the site and for a supermarket in Blarney, which would be ideal because it needs an additional supermarket to cover the area from Tower to Blarney. There was one objector, the lord of the manor next door, and now the person has to pay the residential zoned land tax because it is a derelict site. This is despite planning permission being granted on the site and the person having to go to An Coimisiún Pleanála and judicial review. Surely the developer, who is anxious to break ground on the site and who has entered competitive dialogue with the local authority regarding affordable housing to help us and the Government bring up our housing stock and reduce our housing crisis, should be exempt from this tax. The developer is actively pursuing it and is trying to do the right things to have property built and services put on the site. Surely there should be an exemption for this type of person.

We are tinkering around with this. I do not want to be offensive to anyone because great credit is due to people who write Bills in the House, in particular those in the Opposition, but we are tinkering around with this. We know at this stage that the present rules and systems that are there for dereliction are not fit for purpose. The legislation the Minister is promising to bring in in 2027 or 2028 is not fit for purpose either. We need to have a system whereby we can go in and say someone has sat on a pile of bricks for the past 20, 15 or ten years, has done nothing with it and there are no planning applications involved. We need to be able to purchase it through CPO at much less than market value. They should be punished for it. It should be taken from them for a minuscule amount of money. This would teach them a lesson. I imagine we would see a lot of people putting up "for sale" signs very quickly on their derelict sites if they knew the value of the site was worth nothing all of a sudden because the Government or local authority would move in and say it is taking it from them, they are not doing anything with it, they are a menace to society, and they are causing serious problems to their neighbours. It is true.

There is a house in Blackpool, and Deputy Gould would know it quite well also, which has gone in for planning permission 23 times and has been turned down. It has been a derelict site for the past 30 or 40 years. The developer is looking for an extra floor. The developer needs to build an extra floor to make it profitable. Nobody from the local authority has picked up the phone and said there is something wrong and they are getting it wrong, and asked them to come in to have a preplanning meeting to see how to get it over the line. There is no incentive to get these people in. It does not matter a damn to the officials. This is the reality of it. I am speaking about local authority officials and not the Minister's officials.

There is a situation here whereby we need to look at the entire process and say this has not worked. The State is more than 100 years old now and this has not worked. What we need to do is look at the standards and best practices throughout the world and throughout mainland Europe. In a lot of countries and a lot of places, and in certain counties and states in the United States in particular which have introduced their own state law, a property is taken from someone if it is not maintained. People are fined for not having a property up to a proper standard. Some places, and I do not overly agree with this, will tell people how to paint a property, what to paint it and what the painting scheme can be. I do not endorse this by any means but at least they are taking a proactive approach in their cities and towns. They are ensuring dereliction is not there, it is not a dumping ground, it is not a breeding ground for antisocial behaviour, and that there are no rodent infestations. If we were serious about having a war on dereliction I would be only too happy to join the Minister but come up with a plan.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)

Bogfaimid ar aghaidh go dtí an Teachta Rory Ahern.

Deputy Rory Hearne

It is Rory Hearne, thank you.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)

Rory Hearne. Tá brón orm.

Deputy Rory Hearne

Just to clarify, I am no relation of the former Taoiseach.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)

Tá brón orm.

Deputy George Lawlor

What about Deputy Ciarán Ahern?

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)

An Teachta Hearne, go raibh maith agat.

Deputy Rory Hearne

Go raibh míle maith agat. We have tens of thousands of vacant and derelict homes up and down the country. It is one of the biggest scandals and failures of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. Government after Government has failed to tackle this issue. Buildings up and down the country are rotting, falling apart, dangerous and left vacant while we have thousands of children and families in homelessness. In Finglas in my constituency families are being made homeless while a massive building, the Drake Inn, has been left derelict for years. Trees are growing up out of it. How hard must it be for these children and families, and for a generation locked out of a home, to walk past these empty derelict buildings? They have no home and here are these buildings that could be homes left idle because of policy failure.

The Minister says he is going to war on dereliction. I have to say that from my perspective, the only war he is waging on dereliction is one in his own head. The new dereliction sites tax will not come into place until 2028. Why will the Minister not implement the tax this year? There is a fundamental flaw in his derelict sites tax. It is designed to fail, just like the vacant homes tax. It is a self-assessment tax. We have 166,000 vacant homes identified by the CSO. It is a self-assessment tax but how many of those liable self-declared for the tax? The figure is 2,300. Less than 2% of the total vacant homes are liable for the vacant homes tax. It will be the same for the derelict sites tax.

Local authorities are responsible for identifying the sites. At present there is huge underidentification and under-registration of these derelict sites by local authorities. What will change with this tax? Around 2,000 sites are currently identified but GeoDirectory states there are 19,000 derelict properties. If the Minister wanted to wage war on dereliction he would fund local authorities properly to compulsorily purchase derelict and vacant buildings and do them up to be used as affordable housing. He would introduce compulsory sales orders to force owners to sell buildings that are rotting and falling apart. He would introduce a vacant property tax that would actually tax the vacant homes throughout the country. He would introduce the derelict tax this year and make it compulsory. He would fund councils to be able to renovate their properties to ensure they are not leaving thousands of council properties vacant.

The most reprehensible and nasty politics has emerged from the Government in recent months from the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach. This is the shift to blame immigrants and migrants for the housing crisis. It is absolutely disgusting. I read the Tánaiste's Substack where he outlined again the false claim that people in emergency accommodation do not have a legitimate right to housing. I ask the Minister to respond to this. Do people in emergency accommodation have a legitimate right to housing? We know that of course they do. What is being done by the Government is a deflection of responsibility. It is a dangerous move and it is stoking the social divisions the Tánaiste claims he is concerned about.

Nowhere is there an acceptance of responsibility for the cause of the housing crisis being decades of failure in policy by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. If we look at it in terms of dereliction and vacancy, we have seen failure of Government after Government to tackle this issue. The Minister says he is waging war on it, but where is the evidence? Will we see a derelict property tax? Why will it not come into force this year?

What we are seeing is words. We are not seeing action on dereliction and vacancy. It is deeply frustrating because when we look at these claims and what the Government is doing, it is fomenting and adding to the Ireland-is-full nonsense. Ireland is not full. Ireland is full of vacant and derelict buildings that Government after Government have failed to tackle and have allowed property owners to sit on while thousands of people are homeless. Again, I ask the Minister to withdraw the comments from this Government that are blaming immigrants for the housing crisis because they are literally stoking fires and attacks on people which we see happening. The housing crisis being blamed is absolutely disgraceful.

Regarding policies that could be pursued, I have outlined them in terms of actually introducing a derelict sites tax. I also want to talk about Dublin City Council and its attempts to deal with dereliction. We look across Dublin and see derelict site after derelict site. Our capital city is full of them. The Minister is probably aware that Dublin City Council has developed a plan, a proposal, a policy to set up an arms-length company, which it is doing, to purchase derelict properties and renovate them. This is an excellent idea. It was developed by our own councillor, Cian Farrell, with Dublin City Council. The problem is the scale of what is being proposed and the timeframe of it. They cannot deal with it on any level that could be considered a reasonable timescale because Dublin City Council is capped in terms of its borrowing. Also, the Government is not giving Dublin City Council sufficient funding. We have a budget that will end up giving over €1 billion in VAT cuts to developers and fast food giants and yet our capital city's council does not have enough funding to meaningfully go after derelict properties and compulsory-purchase them.

I mentioned my constituency of Finglas. I invite the Minister to Finglas Village to see the level of dereliction there. These are communities where people feel excluded and left behind. They go into their village centre and see derelict building after derelict building. What does it tell them about what the Government thinks about them and how it cares for them? They feel completely abandoned. I have proposed that Dublin City Council should be compulsory-purchasing buildings like the Drake Inn and converting them into affordable housing like that proposal being done, but it does not have the funding.

I ask the Minister to engage with Dublin City Council and ensure it has the funding so we can have this war on dereliction he is talking about. I ask he introduce the compulsory sales orders as well and let us actually genuinely go after them and give new buildings and new homes to communities that have been excluded and tackle that issue of dereliction and vacancy which is absolutely disgraceful and needs to be tackled properly.

Deputy Robert O'Donoghue

Dereliction makes our towns look worse, damages local pride, drives footfall away from businesses and sends the message that neglect is tolerated. At a time of such acute public infrastructure needs, this is simply unacceptable. This Bill does not create a new tax. It asks only that the existing law be taken seriously and enforced properly.

In my constituency of Dublin-Fingal West they deserve better than boarded-up streets and wasted land when solutions are sitting in plain sight. The constituency of Dublin-Fingal West, and particularly Rush, is being visibly and needlessly ruined by dereliction. Anyone who has walked down Rush Main Street in the last 20 years can see how the town centre has had the heart ripped out of it. This is at a time when we are living through an unprecedented housing crisis. Because we are in the north county and because we are one of the fastest growing places in Ireland, if not the fastest and one of the youngest, this is critical.

Across our towns and villages sites are laying idle year after year. Empty buildings, boarded up premises, brownfield land where families cannot find homes, young people are forced to leave their town and local services are under severe pressure. The dereliction is not just an eyesore, it actively blocks delivery of housing, large GP services, early education facilities, school-age childcare facilities and the basic infrastructure our communities urgently need.

These sites should be contributing to vibrant town centres and sustainable development, not decay and stagnation. We already have a tool to deal with this in the derelict sites levy but the reality is stark. It is not being enforced. Local authorities are applying the levy in some cases but collecting almost none of it. Millions of euro remain outstanding and nobody is being held accountable for that failure. This Bill introduces the basic and essential principle of accountability. If the local authority is failing to collect the levy it must explain why. It must set out how it intends to fix that failure and the Minister must respond, ensuring that local and national governments and not operating in silos while dereliction worsens on the ground.

Dereliction and vacancy are a scandal that require robust State intervention moving beyond grants to direct action and reform of local government powers to bring empty buildings back into use.

Deputy George Lawlor

The scourge of dereliction in the time of a housing crisis is, as was said, antisocial at best and a scandal. Many of the problems we face today predate the Minister's tenure as Minister for housing. I have served with the Minister on Wexford County Council. In my experience councils are afraid of their lives to go anywhere near derelict sites.

Every time we bring proposals for remediating a particular property or doing something with a derelict site there always seems to be a problem. There always seems to be a difficulty. There always seems to be some stumbling block that a council cannot get over. One of the things the Minister needs to do in his Department is surround himself with problem solvers because in my experience over the years there are too many problem finders all across sectors of our Government, be it local or national.

I will give an example of a site on Clonard Road in Wexford. The Minister will be familiar with the area. A derelict site notice was put up on 10 February 2025. Five minutes ago I texted the person who brought it to my attention. Nothing has been done. I draw it back to my belief that councils are afraid to engage in any way, shape or form in resolving the problem of dereliction.

In many respects, when we look at some State agencies it is no wonder people leave properties derelict. Another property the Minister will be familiar with is Wexford General Hospital. It is one of the worst derelict sites in County Wexford. The HSE has sat idly by and let a wonderful property that has a history to it go completely derelict, so much so that it is now on the Abandoned Ireland website. There has been no intervention whatsoever by Government over years. Do not ask me why because it is a complete eyesore rotting in the heart of Wexford Town. What could be done with it now I do not know. There is a preservation order on it that has served nothing but to make it derelict because the HSE was not going to spend the extra money needed on a preserved building.

Let me give an example of some of the stumbling blocks I am talking about. I submitted a question to the Minister for public expenditure and reform on 19 March 2025 in relation to Hookless Village in Wexford - a completely derelict leisure centre, bar and swimming pool.

The Minister has probably seen photographs of it. I asked if anything could be done and part of the response I got was that the company that owned it had been dissolved since 19 October 2007 but could be restored to the company register up to 20 years after that date. If restored, any property it held would revert to the company as if it had never been dissolved. In law, a derelict site that belonged to a company that was dissolved in 2007 can lie derelict for 20 years for fear the company may somehow be reinvigorated, at which point it will revert back to the company's ownership. That is ludicrous. Legislation that this Chamber has introduced will allow a property to lie derelict - a dangerous property that children are breaking into, a swimming pool full of stagnant water, chairs, tables and "Space Invader" machines. We facilitate that by letting it lie there for 20 years in case the defunct business comes back into being. That is ludicrous and indefensible. Local authorities are afraid for their lives of derelict properties. I am more than a little disappointed to hear it will be 2027 before the derelict properties tax comes into place. We need immediate action.

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann came to Wexford town and I was involved in its executive committee. There were a number of derelict buildings along Wexford's main street. Anthony Bailey, our manager, looked at these and said we could not have 8,000 people coming to Wexford. We CPOed a number of the buildings. We did so because our town centre needed to look its best as the nation and world descended on it. It was action by a proactive member of Wexford's local authority that brought that about. We need to get the problem-solvers into the system.

I agree with Deputy Hearne that we need the compulsory sales order. It is a no-brainer. We cannot continue with CPOs. We need to inflict - I deliberately use the word "inflict" - compulsory sale orders on these blights and eyesores on our community. The housing problem is a huge and important issue and the thrust of Deputy Gould's Bill, but it is only one part of it. If we are sending the signal to our authorities they can have a derelict hospital or a derelict building left there for 20 years, what are the other guys who own derelict sites thinking? They are asking why they should get rid of their derelict sites if other such sites are lying there. We need to go hard to send the signal to every sector that dereliction and blights on our landscape and on our housing lists, seen by people walking by derelict houses every day of the week, will not be tolerated any more.

The Minister has received some criticism here today but I have known him for a long time and hope he is the Minister to ensure these blights on our housing lists and our communities are removed once and for all and we can stand in this Chamber and say we are achieving something for the betterment of this nation and its people.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)

I agree with Deputy Lawlor that these are a blight on our communities. There should be nowhere to hide for people who have properties they are letting go into dereliction. Not only that but there are areas, as the Deputy highlighted, where the law is overcomplicating the matter. Those areas need to be addressed one by one. It is unacceptable. It is antisocial behaviour. I am declaring a war on derelict sites. We are tackling it. The implementation of a new derelict property tax will help significantly address dereliction.

I understand Deputy Gould's proposals with this legislation but we are going way beyond that. I do not think increasing administration and reporting will be effective. As a number of Deputies pointed out, whatever the reason may be, local authorities have not been able to implement the existing legislation. The existing legislation is strong enough but they have not been able to do it. Bringing in the Revenue Commissioners with their power to tackle dereliction is the correct way to go about it, while providing significant carrots for people to purchase vacant and derelict properties and turn them back into homes, bringing life back to our town, village and city centres. We want people back living in our communities and that will be done by other positive measures we are bringing in or have brought in, such as the town centre first programme and the various grants - the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, and the town and village renewal scheme. We are putting money behind those positive projects and can see them in my county. Look at the transformation of New Ross town in recent years using all the grants approved by the Government through Government policy. We have seen it in many towns across the country. We are tackling it.

Deputy O'Reilly gets up every time with personalisation of politics - no substance, again and again and again. The usual from you, Deputy. Engage with the substance of the issues for once.

Deputy Louise O'Reilly

And it is the same from the Minister. There is rising homelessness, the same as every month. If he was doing his job, we would not have anything to-----

Deputy James Browne

And she resorts to the usual when I am making my comments, by trying to shout me down. We are well used to it. For those interested in trying to tackle the issues affecting our society, I have heard many good comments from across the floor. I will take them into account as I continue to develop policies. Taking on dereliction is a fundamental part of my role as I see it. That is why we are bringing in positive elements to support people in transforming their village, town and city centres while taking on those who are leaving properties derelict.

Deputy Thomas Gould

I thank my staff, especially my PA, who have done a tremendous amount of work on this legislation. I also thank the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, which has assisted me in bringing in this legislation. The Minister might criticise it but it is right and has gone through the whole process. As a back bench TD, I am limited in the legislation I can bring forward. I would love to go much further. I would love to work with the Minister on it but he comes in here and criticises the proposals I have made. He just said he was having a war on dereliction. What he did not say was it was not starting for another two years. He comes in here and criticises local authorities and councils but he has given local authorities the job of pulling the derelict sites register together. They have had that job for 35 years. The Minister is telling me they could not get it right for 35 years and is blaming them for not collecting the levy, but he is still leaving them in charge of putting the list together. The Minister cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

I spoke earlier about being in the Mercy hospital on Tuesday night, a freezing cold night. It was jammed out the door, with trolleys everywhere. I was 11 hours in there with a family member. People told me they came into A and E to get out of the cold. I do not know whether the Minister knows where the Mercy hospital is in Cork. Within minutes' walking distance of the hospital are derelict buildings. Around the corner from the hospital are buildings that are rotting. The Minister should be bringing in this legislation now. I know that when his Bill is enacted, my Bill will fall, but at least until the Minister's Bill comes in, this Bill will be working away.

The Minister commented twice but he never once mentioned the €20 million owed by speculators to whom he is giving an amnesty. Those are the facts. He also never discussed why the 2024 figures on dereliction have not been released. They are normally released every March. The Minister is hiding the figures. I got them from every other Minister but I cannot get them off Deputy Browne. Why is he hiding and covering up the dereliction and the landholders and speculators who have derelict sites all over the State? The Minister says he wants a war on dereliction. Give us the figures. Release them. Why will the Minister not release them? It is because they will show how bad things are.

Other Members have made comments about different towns and cities. Does the Minister know how hard it is for people living in overcrowded accommodation with two or three generations in the one house when there is a derelict site around the corner? Does he know how hard it is for people in emergency accommodation to bring their children across the city to school, passing a dozen properties that could be their home?

The Minister talks about his Government. Why is he not doing this now? He should be tackling dereliction today. This Government has been in place for more than a year. Why is it not doing its job? It is because Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are up to their tonsils in vested interests, the landholders and speculators who are only interested in making money. If the Minister wants us to take him at face value, he needs to tackle this now. People want action. They do not want the Minister to be talking about this next year or the year after. They want action now. People are leaving this country to go to Australia because they cannot find somewhere to rent. There are people leaving because they cannot find a house to buy. There are people who are stuck because they cannot get social housing but cannot afford rent.

I am not sure about the Minister's pride in his responsibility. I am genuinely not trying to insult him but these are the facts as we stand in the Dáil today. We have the highest rents, the highest house prices and the highest homelessness figures in the history of the State and Deputy Browne is the Minister. He can blame us in the Opposition but I am trying to fix something. This Bill will not fix everything but it would be a start. It would send a message to those the Minister has called criminals, those involved in the antisocial behaviour of destroying communities through dereliction. It would send a message that this will not be tolerated any more. It would also send a message to people who are struggling and who are looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. It would tell them that this Government will do something.

This Government has done nothing on dereliction for 35 years. Does the Minister know the joke about this? Does he know who brought in the original dereliction legislation? In 1990, Charles Haughey was the Taoiseach and Pádraig Flynn was the Minister. Those two individuals thought it was bad 35 years ago. Governments have done nothing for 35 years. Charles Haughey, the former Taoiseach, owned an island. Those two men knew back then that this was wrong.

I am here today trying to work with the Government but it will not work with us. It will not work with the Opposition and it definitely will not work with Sinn Féin. We propose having Revenue collect this levy. That should have started on 1 January. The Minister could give local authorities funding and staff to compulsorily purchase buildings. He could give local authorities support to take on the developers who are sitting on these sites and not developing them. There are people out there who want to buy these properties to turn them into businesses, homes, community centres and sports facilities but the Minister is letting them rot. There are buildings rotting in this country. Who is responsible? Who is going to do anything about it? Deputy Browne is the Minister. We could walk out the door here and see building after building that is derelict but the Minister is coming in here and asking us to wait until 2027, when we might get to it. With no disrespect, I do not believe the Government will get to it in 2027. Enough is enough. The Minister said he was not going to tolerate this but what is he doing? He can make these statements but the proof is in the pudding. The proof is in his actions and his actions are not delivering.

This Government, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister have brass necks to tell us they are going to solve the housing crisis and the homelessness crisis and that they are going to stop people emigrating because they need homes. I know people who have left. Does the Minister know what they are hoping for? They are hoping there is going to be another financial crash here so they can come home and buy a house. They are telling me they will never be able to come home with the price of houses and rents here and that their only hope is another financial crash. They do not believe the Government is interested in them. They do not believe it wants to support them. Every day, I talk to genuine hardworking people who are trying to build lives for themselves and their families. All they are looking for is a safe and affordable home so they can live their lives. Is that too much to ask? Over the last few days, I have been listening to different Ministers talking about all the people who are working and how well the country is going. For a lot of people, it is going well. However, if you do not have a house, a home and a roof over your head and your children's heads to call your home, where are you going? Where is this Government going? It is not good enough.

I brought forward legislation to work with the Government. I would have amended it. We could have amended it down the road. We could all have worked together. We still can because the vote on this is not until next Wednesday night. I ask the Minister to think about it. Perhaps he could pull the Opposition together with his own backbenchers. Those backbenchers are telling him the same. We could still work together and make a difference. At the end of the day, it is about helping people and providing housing for people to make a difference. It is about stopping dereliction and the speculators.

Question put.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)

The division is postponed until the weekly division time next week.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 6.28 p.m. go dtí 2 p.m., Dé Máirt, an 20 Eanáir 2026.

The Dáil adjourned at 6.28 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 20 January 2026.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 15 Jan 2026

Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members]

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 15 Jan 2026