2. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the details of and timeline for the production of legislation to empower the Revenue Commissioners to implement the proposed new derelict sites tax; if all of the revenue collected will be disbursed to the relevant local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65023/25]

Sentiment score: 0.01

A welcome announcement at least was made in the budget in October that this Government would plan to transfer responsibility for collecting derelict sites levies to the Revenue Commissioners and, from then on, the levy would be known as a tax, given the fact that it would be collected by the Revenue Commissioners. This is a welcome development and something for which I have been campaigning and advocating for many years. One of the key things in this regard is that the revenue collected ought to be dispersed directly back to the local authorities involved. The Minister might advise on the position in that regard and what he plans to do to legislate for this announcement that was made in budget 2026.

Sentiment score: 0.23

There is concern at official level in local authorities that it may not be the case that the revenue collected will be dispersed directly back to the local authorities where the subject sites are present. The Minister will understand those concerns. I draw some analogies between the transfer of the household charge, which the Minister will recall from the early 2010s, to the local property tax and how compliance improved. In fact, the transformation of the household charge to the property tax was quite successful from a collection point of view, looking at the compliance figures compared to the collection of the household charge, which was the responsibility of the local authorities at that point in time. It was for good reason that responsibility was transferred. It was done expeditiously and efficiently in a short period of time. Given the fact that we have derelict sites registers available to local authorities across the country, although they may need to be finessed, I do not accept for a minute, given the urgency of this matter, that we ought to wait until 2027 until Revenue has responsibility for collecting these charges.

Sentiment score: 0.21

The Minister will know how this works. He will know about the ineffective nature of the Derelict Sites Act and the need for reform in that space. When a local authority identifies an owner of a derelict site or property and, after due process, decides to place that site on a register, the individual may decide to contest that. It then becomes complicated. He or she may potentially challenge the designation of a derelict site through the courts and communities become frustrated. Dereliction itself is an absolute scourge, regardless of the housing disaster we are experiencing at the moment. It is a public health matter. In fact, the Scottish Administration has designated dereliction as a public health issue, and for very good reasons. The reality is that the Revenue Commissioners are the best-placed agency to collect a levy that will be transformed into a tax for a number of different reasons. Any business owner I know needs to sweat every asset they have. If it is a case that somebody is wealthy enough to be able to preside over a derelict site without using that site to generate some revenue, they must have very deep pockets. Of course, if Revenue is collecting your tax and you are not compliant, then you cannot run your businesses. I get what the Minister is saying in terms of that disincentive piece, which is important, like the vacant homes tax. It is not about collecting tax; it is about incentivising use. I ask and urge the Minister to look again at ensuring the revenues generated and collected are returned to local authorities like the local property tax, by and large.

Sentiment score: 0.08