'Blame game must stop now' on derelict sites, says Laois councillor

Cllr James Kelly has argued that local authorities should have more power on derelict sites

Published 3rd Jul 2026, 18:55 BST File photo. Cllr James Kelly has argued that local authorities should have more power on derelict sites Sign up to our Laois Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Laois Live within your account.

A Laois councillor has “refuted” the claims made by the Tánaiste Simon Harris regarding local authorities not doing enough to tackle dereliction.

In June, Tánaiste Simon Harris said some local authorities were doing an “appalling” job at collecting the derelict sites levy ahead of the proposed new legislation whereby Revenue would collect derelict site tax rather than local authorities who currently are responsible for collecting it.

Councillor James Kelly has urged for the “blame game to stop now” in terms of tackling dereliction and instead more legislative powers should be given to local authorities in this respect.

Speaking at the recent meeting of Laois County Council , Cllr Kelly requested the council to call on the Tánaiste to include Laois towns and villages in the ‘Living City Initiative’ tax relief scheme which is aimed at tackling vacancy and dereliction and for the council to submit maps to the Minister highlighting the county’s central urban areas in need of regeneration.

This initiative allows property owners to claim tax relief for money spent on refurbishing or converting residential or commercial properties in order to support regeneration and bring vacant properties back into use.

Five cities were initially eligible for the scheme, including Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Kilkenny. In recent months, five more towns were included, these were Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny, Sligo and Athlone.

Cllr Kelly told the council that he wants Laois towns and villages included in this initiative.

“In June, Minister Harris announced that it is to make use of revenue to bring in this new dereliction tax which is 7% approximately. That’s in more than 100 towns over a 4,000 population and there is going to be a second phase of 64 towns over 2,000 population with the tax to be collected by Revenue. This will affect a lot of our towns,” the Laois councillor said.

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“In the same announcement, the Minister stated that local authorities have not done enough to tackle dereliction, that we failed to administer levies and this approach was taken out of frustration. I refute the comments of the Minister. The Laois County Council Regeneration Team is one of the more proactive sections in our local authority and have delivered despite being hampered by poor legislative powers and support.”

Cllr Kelly called upon the Minister Harris to give local authorities greater legislative powers and support to investigate and tackle issues around dereliction and vacant properties and provide funding to local authorities to employ additional staff and surveyors to assess and pursue legal owners of properties.

“It was originally stated that councils would have the power to levy the 7% but it is now being handed over to Revenue. I propose 6% of the 7% that is going to be collected by Revenue should be returned to the local authority because afterall it’s the local authority who provide the resources and put in the hard work.”