Westmeath County Council On Local Authority List For Failing To Collect Levy On Derelict Sites

19 sites are currently recorded as derelict in Westmeath, there's 23 in Offaly, while the number is 41 in Laois.

Over half of Ireland's local authorities, including Westmeath County Council, have failed to collect money from owners of derelict sites, for two years in a row.

New figures released to Social Democrats TD, Rory Hearne suggest councils across the country are owed more than €20m in unpaid levies. 

The Derelict Sites Register, which records the sites subject to an annual levy, shows there were nearly two thousand derelict sites around the country at the end of 2023, up from about 1,500 the year previous.

Deputy Hearne says the failure to tackle dereliction goes all the way to the top:

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