Vol. 566 No. 1
236 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Finance the efforts being made by his Department to solve the industrial dispute at the Valuation Office; and the amount of income which has been lost to each local authority as a result of the dispute being unresolved. [11638/03]
The industrial action in the Valuation Office began in May 2002 in connection with the implementation of the Valuation Act 2001. Valuers in the Valuation Office, who had refused to co-operate with the implementation of the Valuation Act 2001 and also refused to carry out rate revisions on behalf of local authorities, resumed their core duties on 27 January last. I am unable to quantify the loss, if any, incurred by local authorities arising from the dispute.
A facilitator will shortly be appointed and the union involved is agreeable to suspend the industrial action in the Valuation Office to enable the facilitation to proceed.
