Dublin City Council set to more than treble its derelict site staff by the end of this year
Dublin City Council (DCC) is on track to more than treble the number of staff working in its derelict sites unit by the end of this year.
The authority has added three additional staff in the last several weeks, and another four staff will be added in the second half of the year, bringing the total to 10.
This is a significant uplift from the three staff working in the unit at the beginning of the year, and will mean a far more proactive approach to addressing dereliction in the capital.
A spokesperson for the council said the three additional staff would be assigned to the Active Land Management Team of the derelict sites unit.
In a recent report to councillors, DCC said the new hires were “currently undergoing training – observing inspections, learning procedures, and shadowing senior staff – before being assigned their own caseloads”.
Once trained, they would then provide administrative support, carry out inspections of derelict sites, compile reports and add and remove sites from the authority’s derelict sites register.
This is a significant bottleneck for DCC, with more than 800 “active files” currently awaiting a decision or an inspection from a dedicated staff member.
A total of 134 sites appear on DCC’s derelict sites register, although this is widely seen as a fraction of the true scale of dereliction in the city.
The recommendation to boost staffing to tackle dereliction arose from the council’s urban regeneration working group, which reported last year and was chaired by Social Democrats councillor Cian Farrell.
Mr Farrell told the Irish Independent the unit would “finally have a full complement” of staff by year end, which should boost the number of derelict sites being added to the register.
He said the next round of recruitment would take place in the second half of the year, with the aim to net an additional four staff.
Another change spurred on by the working group was a “waterfal framework”, where DCC assesses whether it has the funds and staffing required to convert its derelict buildings into usable properties.
If the council cannot resource this, sites will be sold to the Land Development Agency, an approved housing body or a private developer, with covenants attached that they be rejuvenated within a specified timeframe.
Mr Farrell has described it as “an immune system” of sorts for the city, with several long-derelict cottages in Chapelizod the first to travel through the framework. DCC plans to put them up for sale in the coming weeks.