OVER HALF OF Ireland’s local authorities are failing to collect money from owners of derelict sites, as latest figures suggest that councils are owed more than €20 million in unpaid levies.

New data on derelict sites for 2023, the latest year for which figures are available, show that 17 out of 31 local authorities didn’t collect any money from landowners that year.

The figures were released in response to a Parliamentary Question by Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne and showed that just €604,621 in levies was collected by councils in 2023, despite over €5.6 million being owed to all 31 local authorities.

It means that councils were owed around €20.5 million in unpaid levies at the end of 2023; the figure is likely even higher now, because it tends to increase annually as unpaid levies accumulate over time.

Each local authority keeps a Derelict Sites Register which includes the sites subject to an annual levy of 7% of its market value for being in a “ruinous, derelict, dangerous or neglected condition”.

The levy continues to apply until the site is no longer deemed derelict, while unpaid levies attract interest of 1.25% per month.

If necessary, local authorities can take the landowner to court to recover this amount or compulsorily purchase the site from its owner.

Money owed to local authorities under the levy becomes a charge on the land until it’s paid.

Figures released as part of the PQ response show that there were 1,913 derelict sites around the country at the end of 2023, up from 1,573 a year previously.

The local authorities that didn’t levy any money against landowners of derelict sites in their area were: Cavan, Clare, Cork County, Donegal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Galway County, Kerry, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Monaghan, Sligo, South Dublin, Waterford and Westmeath.

Waterford City and County Council had the highest number of sites (82) on its register at the end of 2023 without collecting any money.

A spokesperson said the council was aware of issues in collecting levies in the past, which centred around staffing and lack of resources, as well as changes of ownership of the relevant sites and the development of derelict properties.

The council said it had received increased funding from the Government to tackle the issue of dereliction, and reviewed all sites in 2023 before starting to levy them in 2024.

Cork County Council, which had the second-highest number of derelict sites on its register without collecting any money, said this was due to a variety of reasons, including properties changing hands, unverifiable ownership and the deaths of property owners.

A spokesperson for the council said that levies totalling €89,600 were issued to derelict site owners last year, of which €4,550 has been paid to date.

Clare County Council, which had the third-most sites on its register without collecting any money in 2023, said that not all the vacant properties on its register were in so-called “designated urban areas” and could therefore not be levied.

A spokesperson said that the commencement of legislation to designate the entire county as an urban area for this purpose commenced in 2024, and €124,110 was subsequently levied in 2024, with further levies of €225,050 to date in 2025.   

Every local authority had multiple derelict sites on their own register, and only 238 sites were removed from registers over the course of the year.

Dublin City Council levied almost €1.6 million for 54 vacant sites in 2023, but collected just €176,529 in respect of those sites.

The local authority was owed €6.7 million – more than any other council – in outstanding levies and had 109 sites on its register at the end of the year. 

Cork City Council likewise levied €1.1 million for 63 vacant sites, but collected just €38,225 for sites levied in 2023; it was owed almost €5 million at the end of the year, when it had 158 sites on its register.

Four local authorities – Kerry, Westmeath, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Galway County – did not collect any of the money they levied during 2023, despite adding 100 sites to the register between them.

A spokesperson for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown confirmed the only payment it received in 2023 was for a payment that was due in 2022.

Kerry, Westmeath and Galway County councils were contacted for comment, but The Journal received no response by the time of publication.

The four councils collectively levied €658,127 in 2023 and collectively had 158 sites on their registers, but did not collect a single cent from landowners last year.

Limerick City and County Council was the only local authority that came near to collecting the amount it levied in 2023; it received €245,166 out of €259,940 owed in respect of 131 sites.

It also had more sites on its register than any other county, with 427 earmarked as derelict at the end of 2023.