Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Jul 1991

Vol. 410 No. 3

Written Answers. - Rateable Valuation of Property.

Michael Bell

Question:

37 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline (1) the total rateable valuation per individual administrative county differentiated as between domestic and commercial properties, (2) the total rateable valuation of properties in the State differentiated as between residential and commercial properties, (3) the date rateable valuations were last updated and (4) whether legislation is now required to meet the needs now identified by the Commissioner of Valuation, and if so, when such legislation will be brought before the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Finance (Mr. A. Reynolds):

Particulars of domestic and commercial rateable valuations at county and national level are contained in the following table. The figures, which reflect the position as of November 1990, are derived from valuation office records of the combined rateable valuations of domestic and commercial buildings and information in respect of commercial valuations obtained from the rating authorities.

Section 3 of the Valuation Act, 1988, introduced a system of continuous revision under which the owner or occupier of a property, the rating authority, or an officer of the Commissioner of Valuation may apply at any time to have the valuation of a property revised. Applications are sent through the rating authority on a monthly basis to the Commissioner of Valuation, who issues particulars of the revised valuations at quarterly intervals.

In addition to the continuous revision process, the Valuation Acts also contain provisions for a general revaluation of all properties in a local authority area. Section 34 of the Valuation (Ireland) Act, 1852, relates to county councils. At the request of a county council, the Minister for the Environment may, if he thinks it fit to do so, direct the Commissioner of Valuation to carry out a revaluation of all properties in the county. The revaluation of all properties in a county borough is governed by section 65 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, which provides for such revaluation to be done at the request of the relevant county borough council. There has been only limited use of these powers — the city of Dublin was revalued in the period 1908 to 1915; the city of Waterford during the years 1924 to 1926; some areas in Galway between 1946 and 1950; Buncrana urban in 1950.

The Commissioner of Valuation is at present conducting a review of the valuation code in consultation with the Department of the Environment and my Department. When I receive the results of this review I will consider the matter further.

Table 1

Total Rateable Valuation per Individual Administrative County Differentiated as between Domestic and Commercial Properties at 9/11/90.

Counties	Domestic R V	Commercial R V
	£	£
Carlow	91,995	75,976
Cavan	95,993	73,384
Clare	240,627	325,796
Cork	1,358,509	1,136,726
Donegal	233,981	183,506
Dublin	5,886,823	4,402,925
Galway	511,647	304,425
Kerry	307,189	250,073
Kildare	369,501	167,249
Kilkenny	164,604	131,270
Laois	115,789	64,184
Leitrim	48,330	23,554
Limerick	536,304	398,949
Longford	78,900	43,566
Louth	290,519	221,195
Mayo	263,160	137,388
Meath	281,816	149,744
Monaghan	133,751	79,828
Offaly	124,809	107,682
Roscommon	109,794	68,921
Sligo	140,463	91,115
Tipperary NR	136,357	103,641
Tipperary SR	174,720	131,531
Waterford	313,329	214,521
Westmeath	124,910	129,634
Wexford	227,222	160,370
Wicklow	394,059	136,677
Total in the State	12,755,101	9,313,830