198. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of derelict sites levies collected and outstanding in Kerry County Council in each of the years 2022, 2023 and 2024; the reason for the significant difference between the amount of unpaid levies reported at the end of 2023 and the amount reported for 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47961/26]

Local authorities have been provided with a number of statutory powers and measures to deal with the issue of derelict properties, both in larger urban areas and in smaller rural towns and villages.

The Derelict Sites Act 1990 imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. 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.

Local authority powers also include requiring owners or occupiers to take appropriate remedial measures on derelict sites, acquiring derelict sites by agreement, or compulsorily, and applying a derelict sites levy on derelict sites with a view to influencing property owners to bring their properties back into productive use or to put them on the market. It is a matter for local authorities to determine the most appropriate use of the legislation within their respective functional areas.

Local Authorities are required to submit an annual return to my Department providing information on the operation of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 in their functional areas. The derelict sites returns are collected in the following calendar year. Derelict Site statistics returned by the Kerry County Council for the years 2022-2024 are in the table below. Regarding the number of derelict sites levy debt written off each year, that information does not form part of the yearly return and therefore my Department does not hold this information.

Each local authority is required to prepare an Annual Financial Statement, setting out its financial position at year end, by end of March of the following year. These financial statements undergo an independent audit by the Local Government Audit Service who then prepare an Audit Report for each local authority. The Audit Reports for 2024 are published on my Department’s website at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/audit-reports-2024/