Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Ken O'Flynn (II), Cork North-Central

I welcome the Bill, have read through it on a number of occasions and thank those who brought the Bill together and assembled it. The Bill tells us quickly, however, and I am sure the Minister will admit it himself that the system is broken. Unfortunately, the Bill does not fix it. It is a good attempt but it needs a little bit of fine tuning. It creates more reporting without guaranteed actions. It risks become a box-ticking exercise. There are no penalties for councils that fail or repeatedly fail. There are no performance targets in the Bill. There are no obligations on the Minister to intervene.
I am happy to work with my colleagues in Sinn Féin to give my thoughts and feed into the Bill as well. What I am saying is not a criticism. At least you are doing something. When we hear people saying that it will be 2027, as my colleague said about "war on dereliction", they are great words. However, they are not much comfort to the people who meet in our constituencies, including the Minister's constituency. He must be meeting the same as us if he is facing the public these days.
When I ask people how I can assist them, they will tell me that their daughter has been on the housing list for ten years in Cork County Council, Cork City Council, Limerick City and County Council, Wexford County Council or wherever. They will say that there are two houses down the end of the street that have been vacant for the past five or seven years and that would be perfect for her. They come along to Cork City Council and ask why this stock is not being turned around. The council will be very honest with people and will say that its allocation from the Government is not enough money to repair the property.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15