596. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether State agencies must pay the derelict sites levy. [37093/26]

The Derelict Sites Act 1990 (or the ‘Act’) imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site as defined in the Act. The Act also imposes a duty on Local Authorities to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure that any land within their functional area does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site.

Each Local Authority maintains a Derelict Sites Register under section 8 of the Act for sites which they consider are derelict under the Act. Sites entered on the Derelict Sites Register are subject to an annual Derelict Sites Levy of 7% of the market value of the property which will continue to apply until the site is rendered non-derelict.

Section 9 of the Act states “It shall be the duty of every owner and occupier of land, including a statutory body and a State authority, to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the land does not become or does not continue to be a derelict site.”

Section 23(2) identifies that the derelict site levy shall be paid by the owner of urban land to the local authority. The placing of sites on the Derelict Sites Register and the collecting of levies on those sites is part of the overall process that Local Authorities undertake with the owners of derelict sites they identify. Local Authorities will engage directly with site owners in the early stages of the use of the Derelict Sites Act before the site is formally listed on the Register. This direct engagement can often lead to resolution of the dereliction issues by agreement between the Local Authority and the landowner involved, which can lead to significant variation in the number of sites being formally placed on the Register across local authorities.