Council missing out on potential "thousands" in uncollected levies

Mayo County Council collected just €37,000 in Derelict Sites levies for 2024, despite 245 properties being listed in the county on the Derelict Sites register at the end of the year writes Paul O'Malley.

During a presentation on Derelict Sites, Cllr Peter Flynn told last week’s Environment and Climate Change SPC meeting that this figure was “cuckoo" and far below what it could be.

Under the Derelict Sites Act 1990, local authorities can charge owners of a property on the register a Derelict Sites Levy of 7% of the property’s market value each year until the property is fixed.

Cllr Flynn said the figure of €37,000 collected meant that Mayo County Council essentially collected just 7% of €534,000 for all of the properties on the Derelict Sites register.

“There is an example of four houses left derelict in Westport since the recession, each one is about 2000 square feet and are probably worth a million between them.”

“If they were doing their job right, we’d have collect thousands in Derelict Sites levies on these houses over the years.”

12 sites were removed from the register in Mayo this year with a further 43 added. 140 Derelict Sites Levies were served in 2025 in Mayo. Six sites have been acquired under CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order) with a further 18 in process.

Cllr Flynn called on the Council to continue to ramp up this work.

“We need to look at the example of Limerick where 100s are handled every year because they have a dedicated Derelict Sites team. We should look into this because in Mayo we have situations where whole streets are derelict and not just individual houses.”