Dublin Port Company paid city council €1.7m in vacant site levy on land valued at €4m

The property, which was valued at €4m in 2019, was added to the vacant site register of Dublin City Council in 2018.

The city council looked for payments of €280,000 for each year that the land remained vacant. Dublin Port Company appealed that decision but were unsuccessful.

The company has since paid a total of €1.68m to the council and said they were now hoping to dispose of the site as it was remote from the port and not of core use.

Dublin Port Company said they had at one stage been in discussions with the Land Development Agency about using it for residential use.

However, plans for its sale fell through when the zoning of the site – which is next to the Dublin Port Tunnel control building – was changed.

In discussions with Dublin City Council last year, the port company asked if the money paid could be used for a greenway project nearby. They suggested it be allocated to the Liffey Tolka Project, which will create a “new boulevard” between the estuary of the Tolka River and the Liffey.

A letter to the council said: “The project will mitigate against the existing harsh landscape of East Wall Road and create a safe pedestrian and cycle route away from the main traffic movements.”

They said it would also provide a route for communications and power cabling, as well as connecting two already existing cycleways.

A letter said: “Dublin Port Company will be ceding several metres of its frontage to this greenway. This project will have significant community gain, and it will be a project that will positively impact on all users of the East Wall Road.”

However, Dublin City Council said they could give no assurances on how the funds would be used and were currently developing a policy on what to do with the vacant site levy.

The council said they would be open to discussions on the Liffey Tolka Project – but that it would have to be the subject of a legal agreement.

The documents were released following a request under the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) Regulations.

Being remote from the port, the site is not core to port use

Dublin Port Company had originally argued that the correspondence was not “environmental information”, but following an appeal they were told to release the records by the Commissioner for Environmental Information.

A statement from the Dublin Port Company said: “[We were] in discussions with the Land Development Agency about the Polefield site near the Port Tunnel between 2019 and 2022 regarding its potential redevelopment for residential use.

“However, due to a change in the zoning, the sale could no longer proceed. The port challenged the Vacant Site Levy decision in relation to the site and the decision was upheld on appeal.

“The port subsequently made a payment of €1.68m to Dublin City Council in 2024. Being remote from the port, the site is not core to port use, and DPC is open to disposal of it.”