I move amendment No. 7:
In page 13, to delete line 43 and substitute the following:
"‘valuation manager' shall be construed in accordance with sections 19 and 62;”.
In the Valuation Bill, the person appointed as valuation manager by the Commissioner of Valuation under Section 19(2) to organise and secure the carrying out of a valuation on a rating authority area, is given specific functions and responsibilities under various sections of the Bill. The same broadly applies, although in a less detailed way, in the case of a person appointed a revision officer by the Commissioner under Section 28, to deal with an application for a revision.
I have been advised that the Bill, through various sections, provides the Commissioner with the power to remove and/or replace, where appropriate, the person initially appointed valuation manager or revision officer. Sections 9(11), 10 and 11 are of relevance in this regard. However, I have also been legally advised, that in the light of the importance of this issue and of the very specific functions and responsibilities given in the Bill to the person appointed valuation manager or revision officer, that an amendment should be introduced to put this issue beyond doubt.
Therefore, the new section being introduced to the Bill, clearly provides the Commissioner of Valuation with the authority, where necessary and desirable to remove and/or replace, where appropriate, the person initially appointed valuation manager or revision officer, without it in any way impacting on the legal validity of the valuation or revision in question, which has not yet been completed. As Deputies will appreciate, the need for the Commissioner to be able to remove and/or replace a valuation manager or revision officer could arise for many reasons, including the inefficiency or long-term illness of the person concerned. Also, the person appointed could die, retire, resign, get promoted or move to another post within the Valuation Office.
Although I am recommitting it, I think there was some reference to this by Deputy McDowell at some stage, possibly in a slightly different context, but it comes back into the same arena of giving certainty in that regard.