asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that notice of revision of valuation is not published by the valuation authority but is published instead every February by each rating authority separately; and whether he will arrange to have the publication carried out in future by the valuation authority alone.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Revision of Valuations.
14.
I am aware that the Commissioner of Valuation does not publish notices relating to revision of valuations. He is not required under the Valuation Acts to do so. Instead, these Acts provide that the rating authority shall give public notice each year of the receipt from the Commissioner of Valuation of the revised valuation lists and of the lists of his decisions on valuation appeals.
Without amending the law, therefore, it would not be feasible to adopt the suggestion in the second part of the Deputy's question. In any case, I do not think that the change advocated by him would be in the ratepayers' interest.
Does the Minister not agree that it is a burden on the ratepayer, as it is, that each local authority at the moment has to go through the formality of publication of notices in all the papers and that the cost of this must be borne by the rates; and, in view of the fact that the central authorities could during the month of February cover the position in a satisfactory manner by general advertisement, would he not agree that it would be a saving to the ratepayers rather than an imposition?
It is questionable if there would be a saving. There certainly would be more expense in the aggregate, because all the queries which would have to go backward and forward from the Valuation Office to the local authorities would involve a great deal of labour and expense. There is no doubt about that. The present system is that lists are sent down to the local authority and they are able to check up on them, publish them and so on. I think that is a much better system.