Compulsory purchase order system to be reformed — eight years after overhaul was recommended
The Government is moving to reform the compulsory purchase order (CPO) system eight years after an overhaul was recommended.Legislation introduced by Fine Gael's James Geoghegan seeks to streamline the process and reduce the current 18-month timeframe.Mr Geoghegan said the existing laws predate the foundation of the State and are fragmented, outdated, and overly complex."It causes unnecessary delays, inflates costs, and slows down the very projects we urgently need — from new homes to vital infrastructure," the Dublin TD said.The legislation will streamline the CPO process, provide legal clarity, and reduce timelines which Mr Geoghegan said will make it easier to deliver the infrastructure needed at a national scale.It is expected that the bill would see the CPO process reduced by six months with the possibility of it being reduced to below one year in the future."Research from the Department of Finance shows that a six-month delay can reduce the return on a project from 10% to 8% and a 12-month delay pushes it down to just 6%," Mr Geoghegan said."That 40% drop is enough to make some projects unbuildable. We cannot allow bureaucracy to kill off good development."Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan said the system 'causes unnecessary delays, inflates costs, and slows down the very projects we urgently need'.Judicial review and CPO uncertainty are already driving up the cost of major projects that require CPOs for land acquisition such as the Shannon Water Pipeline, he said.Uisce Éireann has cited the risk of both judicial review and CPO-related delays as "major cost drivers" in terms of the Shannon project.The bill will also support faster housing delivery and unlock vacant buildings making it a key step towards tackling the housing crisis, Mr Geoghegan said.Under the Dereliction Sites Act, local authorities can CPO premises but this legislation would provide "stronger tools" in dealing with the vacant and derelict site registers."Recent data shows over 12,000 residential and commercial units [in Dublin] lie empty and shockingly, 40% have been vacant for more than four years," Mr Geoghegan said."These buildings could be transformed into badly needed homes."Another element of the bill involves providing compensation upfront to landowners who would get market value for the land.The final piece of the bill is consolidating over 70 pieces of legislation that deal with the area of CPO, Mr Geoghegan said, acknowledging that it will require a "significant body of work" by the Department of Justice.
