Thomas Gould
Ceist:128. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the new derelict sites tax whether he has considered compulsory sale orders. [28905/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 22 April 2026
Ceisteanna (128)
Freagraí scríofa
Working to end dereliction and vacancy is a key priority in the Government's Housing Action Plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. The Plan aims to ensure that the activities and resources used to address vacancy and dereliction are co-ordinated and effective and that legislative powers are used proactively to work to bring dereliction and vacancy to an end.
The concept of a compulsory sales order relates to a legislative power whereby a public authority may force the sale of a vacant or derelict property, to get the property back into use.
My Department is not aware of any jurisdiction where compulsory sales orders are in existence or in operation to tackle vacancy and dereliction, therefore information about their use and effectiveness is not available.
The introduction of any such new measure would require a strong policy basis, consideration given to its constitutionality, and a legislative basis. It would also require fair procedures for property owners, similar to those already existing under compulsory purchase legislation. It is noted that compulsory purchase powers are already available under the Derelict Sites Act and the Housing Act. As such, there are currently no plans to introduce any such measures relating to compulsory sales orders.
I am committed to ensuring that the existing legislative powers, which are effective when used, are used proactively and consistently across local authorities to work to bring dereliction and vacancy to an end.
To that end, 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 and the Housing Act, when engagement with the owners of these properties is not successful in bringing them back into use.
In April 2026, my Department published data for 2025 on the CPO Activation Programme on its website, which can be accessed at the following link: Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) Activation Programme.
Call 3 of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is able to provide the finance required to compulsorily acquire properties in support of the local authority’s wider CPO Activation Programme targets. To date, over 1,370 properties have now been approved for local authority's URDF Call 3 programmes, with an estimated residential yield of over 5,600 homes.
Under the Derelict sites Act 1990, local authorities have been provided with a range of powers and measures to deal with the issue of derelict properties. Local authority powers include requiring owners or occupiers to take appropriate measures on derelict sites, acquiring derelict sites by agreement, or compulsorily, and applying a derelict sites levy on derelict sites.
Delivering Homes, Building Communities reinforces and expands the range of measures being implemented by Government to work to end dereliction and long term vacancy. Under the Plan, a new Derelict Property Tax will be introduced, to be administered and collected by the Revenue Commissioners, to bring derelict properties back into use.
I firmly believe the commitment Government has made to addressing vacancy and dereliction and the actions under Delivering Homes, Building Communities will play a vital role in delivering homes across the country, and tackling issues that affect our towns and villages
Questions Nos. 129 and 130 answered with Question No. 126.