Letters to the Editor: Vacant site levy should be collected by Revenue

Upper North Main Street was closed last summer to facilitate the work on No. 63-64 which partially collapsed. Picture: Damian Coleman

I find the recent revelations that less than 1% of vacant site levies owed to local authorities in 2020 were paid to be deeply disturbing. Local authorities were owed more than €21.5m in 2020, yet only €21,000 was received. This farcical situation means that less than one-tenth of 1% of the total money owed was paid.

Since 2017, local authorities have been required to compile a register of vacant sites, record the value of these sites and collect a levy of up to 7% of the value every year.