Sir, – A while ago economist Sinéad O’Sullivan asked how one of Europe’s wealthiest countries can still struggle to deliver the basic things that make society function. Her answer is that Ireland’s problem is no longer money but State capacity, our ability to turn policy into action.
Wexford’s Derelict Sites Register illustrates the point. It contains 149 properties worth almost €11.7 million, with more than €3 million in unpaid levies. Yet some sites have remained derelict for more than 20 years. In several cases, the levy now exceeds the property’s value.
This raises an uncomfortable question: when does a levy stop being an incentive and become a substitute for action?
Every derelict building is a missed opportunity, a home that could have housed a family, a shop that could have employed local people, or a restored building contributing to a thriving town centre. Instead, communities live with decline while councils continue to record, value and penalise it without resolving it.
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As O’Sullivan has argued, Ireland has become adept at administering problems rather than solving them. The Derelict Sites Register identifies neglect, calculates levies and produces statistics, but its success should be measured by buildings restored, not debts accumulated.
Property rights carry responsibilities. Owners should not be able to leave buildings abandoned indefinitely while communities bear the economic, social, and visual costs. Equally, the State must have the capacity and determination to intervene effectively and in a timely manner where necessary.
If a building can remain on a derelict register for two decades while levies continue to mount, the problem is not the legislation alone. It is a system that too often mistakes process for progress. The true measure of success will be town centres restored to homes, businesses and life, rather than registers filled with ever-growing arrears. – Yours, etc,
CLLR LEONARD KELLY,
Independent,
Clonard,
Wexford.
