Cork County Council failed to collect €362,000 in derelict site levies in 2023, new figures show
All local authorities must keep a derelict sites register, and owners of such sites in urban areas are obliged to pay a levy of 7% of the market value of the land concerned. File picture: Dan Linehan
Cork County Council collected no money at all from the derelict sites levy in 2023, and failed to issue more than €200,000 worth of invoices for the tax due to a “lack of a centralised approach”, an audit has found.
The report from the Local Government Audit Service told the council to improve performance in this area, after it ended the year with €362,000 owed in the levies.
It also identified a risk of “significant additional costs”, with a multi-million euro project in retrofitting public lighting across the county.
Each year, county councils around the country are audited by the Department of Housing to gauge how they are performing and spending public money.
“Public bodies being accountable to citizens is increasingly important in today’s environment to allow trust and confidence to be built upon,” an overview of its work says.
All local authorities must keep a derelict sites register, and owners of such sites in urban areas are obliged to pay a levy of 7% of the market value of the land concerned.
However, in many parts of the country collection of this levy is poor.
The audit of Cork County Council said: “It has previously been acknowledged that significant work has been undertaken by the council to progress the identification and invoicing of derelict sites across each municipal district.
"However, during 2023, invoices totalling just €28,000 were issued, with no amounts collected during the year, resulting in a year-end debtor of €362,000.”
It added a further €235,000 of derelict site levy invoices should have been issued during 2023, but this was not done due to a lack of a centralised approach across the various municipal districts.
The audit said management at the council advised that a “full provision” was made for these arrears, as it advised further steps in this area.
In addressing the issue, the council said it had conducted a comprehensive assessment of its register in 2023, with verifying ownership details a key objective.
“To facilitate this, the overall management and monitoring of the Derelict Sites Registers for the eight municipal districts in Co Cork has been centralised and there are now 110 properties on the Derelict Sites Register for Co Cork,” it said.
“Responsibility for the issuing of levy demands and for pursuing collection has also been centralised and a new process for the escalation of unpaid levies has been established to flag instances where pursuing defaulters through the courts should be considered.”
In terms of capital spending, the audit highlights issues with a €57m plan to convert public lighting across southern counties to LED luminaries to improve energy efficiency, cut costs, and reduce C02 emissions.
It said several issues, such as the pandemic and difficulties in attracting, recruiting and retaining staff, had emerged with this project, as it recorded a total spend of €28.8m in August 2024, with just one quarter of the work completed.
“Management advised of significant delays during 2022 and 2023 that have negatively impacted the completion date, which is now estimated to be early 2026,” the audit said.
Separately, the audit also identified an increase in overtime and allowances for staff by more than 30% to €14.45m. The council said a review of allowances was ongoing.
