The Minister outlined the amount of money given to the tenant in situ scheme. Two weeks ago, I raised with the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, the 33 families in Cork whose houses were sale agreed. Cork City Council was going to buy the houses but on 4 April it informed Cork City Council councillors that there was no money left to go ahead. I was told the Government was going to consider it and talk to people about it. Yesterday, I spoke to a lady, Amy, who was meant to be out of her house in February. It was supposed to be purchased in April. She got an email two weeks ago telling her and the landlord it was not going ahead and that she had to be out of the house at the end of May. There are 44 adults and 26 children who will be homeless in the next couple of weeks if that money is not given. I am pleading with the Minister to allocate that extra funding, not only to Cork City Council but to Dublin, Limerick and Kildare. I have been contacted by local authorities right across the State. They need that money.
Sentiment score: -0.01
12. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the derelict sites levy collection in 2024. [24896/25]
Sentiment score: 0.00
Will the Minister of State provide an update on the amount collected by means of the derelict sites levy in 2024? We know that the derelict sites register and the derelict sites levy together constitute one of the only ways to get at landlords who are hoarding properties and letting them fall into rack and ruin.
Sentiment score: -0.29
As the Minister of State said, the latest figures he has are for 2023. The new figures will arrive e shortly. As the Minister of State outlined, there are 1,913 derelict sites on the register. What is shocking is that only one in three have been levied. Thirteen local authorities applied no levy. Seventeen did not collect even one cent. In 2023, local authorities that applied the levies sought €5.6 million in payment of those levies. How much was collected? A total of €600,000. A total of €20.5 million is currently owed for the derelict sites levy. I talk to local authorities. Some do not want to engage with the system. The Minister of State was on the housing committee with me. I asked him what he was going to do. Here we are, years later, and land hoarders are laughing at us and at the people in the communities where they are these sites are lying idle.
Sentiment score: -0.07
Local authorities have a legal obligation to enforce the Derelict Sites Act. They are not doing it. Deputies Browne and Cummins are the Ministers responsible. It is as simple as that. This is a legal obligation which local authorities have and which is not being enforced. Local authorities also tell me that they do not have the staff or resources to do this work. In reply to a question I put to him, the previous Minister informed me that he had initiated a CPO activation programme but that no data was collected to see how successful it had been. In the context of derelict sites, in recent days the roof of a cottage in Ranelagh in Dublin collapsed. A total of €140,000 in levies is owed on that site alone. Why was that money not collected and why was there no enforcement? In Cork, Good Shepherd Convent burnt down a few weeks ago. That was the fourth major fire there. There have been a dozen or so other fires at the site. Someone could have been killed. The derelict sites levy is not being enforced. There are two buildings on Narrow West Street in Drogheda that are crumbling and that people are afraid to walk past. The levy is not being enforced.
Sentiment score: -0.02
Will there be supplementary questions?
Sentiment score: 0.00
With respect, I just have one question. It relates to Cork.
Sentiment score: 0.24
Okay.
Sentiment score: 0.23