2. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if outstanding derelict site levies will be collected by Revenue; and whether additional funding will be provided to local authorities for collecting the register. [66120/25]

Sentiment score: 0.20

Will the Minister update the Dáil on whether outstanding derelict sites levies will be collected by Revenue and whether additional funding will be provided to local authorities for the collection of the register?

Sentiment score: 0.61

I can safely say that the Minister has just given a big spiel there, the same as the previous Minister did last year and the year before that. Nothing the Minister has outlined today will tackle dereliction. He talks about CPO activations. Local authorities will not take out CPOs because they are too complicated. They do not have the staffing, the resources or the money. I have looked at the Minister's 105- or 107-page plan. There is a paragraph on CPOs to tackle dereliction, but no funding and no resources. It is the same old, same old from the Minister. He talks about local government, the local authorities and the planning authorities getting more staff. Why are the local authorities not tackling dereliction? I will tell you why. It is because the Minister is not giving them the staff or the money. The buck stops with him. I will ask the Minister once more, as I asked his predecessor. I will walk the streets of Dublin with him tonight to look at the dereliction and the blight on the communities. It is not just Dublin but also Cork and towns and villages. The dereliction is everywhere. There is nothing in the Minister's housing plan to tackle it.

Sentiment score: -0.03

The Minister has said he is giving power to the Revenue Commissioners, but when will they start collecting levies? He said he is going to keep local authorities involved. The local authorities have been keeping derelict site registers since 1990. That is 35 years. Why are we not putting a levy on today? Why are we letting land hoarders and speculators get away with destroying communities and towns by leaving spots derelict? I had a meeting tonight with Sinn Féin members in Tipperary. They outlined to me the blight of dereliction in their communities. They have said to me that we are all talk up here and that we are not seeing it on the ground. That is what I was told today in Tipperary. I see that in Cork and I see it all around the State, and we are told we are all talk up here on the war on dereliction. Does the Minister have any grasp on reality? He says that he knows Cork and that he knows Dublin. He should hang his head in shame to walk the streets of Cork, Dublin or Limerick, or any town, and look at all the dereliction. His party has been in government for over a decade. They are the problem.

Sentiment score: -0.09

No, it was 2016.

Sentiment score: -0.30

The Minister can rub it in but-----

Sentiment score: 0.00

It is hard lines when you will not give us an answer, but not to give your own man an answer? Jesus. I know less now than before you started to talk.

Sentiment score: -0.02