asked the Minister for Local Government if he has received and refused requests from time to time over the past few years from various rating authorities (both urban and county) for departmental approval to a local arrangement whereby special discounts would be allowable to ratepayers who paid the full amount of their rates on demand; and whether, as such an incentive would tend to improve substantially the prompt payment of rates, he would be prepared to sanction future application for such an arrangement by a rating authority that desires to introduce this special discount system.
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Discounts for Ratepayers.
Under existing legislation, there is no power (except for a special provision in the case of owners of small dwellings under the Local Government (Rates on Small Dwellings) Act, 1928), enabling rating authorities to grant discounts to ratepayers who pay the full amount of their rates on demand. A few requests have been received in my Department in recent years from local authorities for the introduction of legislation to enable such discounts to be given for prompt payment of rates. I do not consider that the introduction of such amending legislation is desirable.