Sinn Féin TD for Galway East, Louis O’Hara, has expressed concern at Government plans to limit the new Derelict Property Tax to population centres of 4,000 or more. O’Hara said that this would have the effect of excluding thousands of derelict properties from this new tax, such as the former Shannon Oaks Hotel in Portumna.
He said that over the weekend Simon Harris reconfirmed that the long-awaited Derelict Property Tax will not come into effect until 2027 and may not be collected until 2028. Worse still, it will now not apply to the entire state but only population centres of 4,000 or more.
“This will have the effect of excluding thousands of derelict properties from this new tax, including long-term derelict properties such as the former Shannon Oaks Hotel in Portumna, which has been left in a dangerous, derelict condition for the past 15 years.
“In the case of the Shannon Oaks, planning permission for the redevelopment of the hotel has now expired, confirming that, as it stands, the owners do not have any intention of redeveloping the hotel.
He said that the local community should not have to put up with this eyesore on their doorstep indefinitely.
“It is not an acceptable situation, and we need to see action. We need a derelict property tax with real teeth, to penalise property hoarding and incentivise homes and buildings being reoccupied.
“The tax should be introduced now and the amount charged doubled for every year a property is left to rot. It should apply to the former Shannon Oaks Hotel to incentivise its owners to finally make the site safe and progress its redevelopment.
“I reiterate my call to the owners to redevelop the hotel or to move the property on to someone else who will,” he said.
Deputy O’Hara added that if the Government is serious about dealing with the blight of dereliction, urgency is required.
“It has to put it up to those responsible for dereliction with legislation and serious financial penalties that will get homes and buildings back into use. Derelict properties are a blight on many smaller towns and there is no good reason why they would be excluded from this tax.
“Local authorities also must be supported also to identify more sites. In County Galway there are only eight properties on the Derelict Sites Register at present – this is not an accurate reflection of the situation on the ground across the County and much more must be done to identify sites and bring buildings and homes back into use,” he concluded.
