Overview
- The Tánaiste has brought a plan to Cabinet for a centrally administered Derelict Property Tax that would be collected by the Revenue Commissioners while local authorities keep derelict-property registers and identify sites.
- The scheme is to roll out in two phases, first covering 107 urban areas with populations of 4,000 or more and later adding 64 towns of 2,000 or more for a total of 171 locations.
- Official data cited by ministers show enforcement shortfalls under the Derelict Sites Act 1990, with 11 local authorities reporting zero levy income in 2024 and more than €26 million in levies imposed but not collected at the end of 2024.
- The Association of Irish Local Government rejected criticism of councils, saying legal and practical limits in the 1990 Act—such as tracing owners, long statutory procedures, and costly court action—have blocked collection and that revenues should be returned to local regeneration.
- Officials are developing scheme details on exemptions, appeals and ownership verification ahead of legislation later this year, and the outcome will hinge on how Revenue collection, local registers and revenue allocation change enforcement and regeneration outcomes.