Derelict Sites
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-09
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I appreciate the past examples. I remember soldiering on some of them together in past iterations of government. We need to get this right, however. My predecessor announced that timeline on budget day. I think we will all agree that we actually do not want to collect much revenue from the tax. Rather, we want people to take derelict properties and sites and put them back into use. The purpose of making the budget day announcement, albeit with the lead-in time, was to make it clear to people in this country that if they are sitting on a derelict property or site in a housing emergency, we intend to tax that reality. We intend to do it through the Revenue Commissioners because, as the Deputy rightly said, the Revenue Commissioners are good at collecting tax. That is what we intend to do because, in a housing emergency, we cannot tolerate this situation.
Currently, the derelict site levy is an annual levy of 7% of the land’s market value. While the rate of the derelict property tax is yet to be determined, I will say to the House that it certainly will not be lower than the current 7%. The primary goal will not be to raise revenue but, rather, to encourage owners of derelict properties to bring them back into use. We want to do this as quickly as possible but we also have to make sure it is consistent with all the principles expected in a new tax.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-09