Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2014
274. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when he expects the revaluation of rates on commercial and industrial properties to be completed in respect of a business (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25278/14]
View answerThe Valuation Act 2001 provides for the valuation of all commercial and industrial property. The Commissioner of Valuation is independent in the performance of his functions under the Act and the making of valuations for rating is his sole prerogative and I, as Minister, have no function in decisions in this regard. The Valuation Act 2001, which came into effect on 2 May 2002, provides for two key elements in the provision and maintenance of the valuation lists for rating authorities. It provides for the Valuation Office to undertake a general revaluation of all commercial and industrial property in the State and towards this end, the Office is currently engaged in a systematic programme of revaluation which commenced in 2005. The immediate objective of the national programme is to ensure that the first revaluation of all rating authority areas is conducted as soon as possible.
Revaluation is conducted across all relevant properties in one or more rating authority areas at the same time. However, implementation of the national programme cannot occur across the entire country simultaneously and the programme must, accordingly, be operated on a phased basis. Following the first revaluation, subsequent revaluations of each rating authority area will then be carried out on a cyclical basis no sooner than five years and no later than ten years after the first revaluation (Section 25 of the Valuation Act, 2001.
The revaluation programme began in November 2005 in the South Dublin County Council area and has since been rolled out to Fingal and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council areas and more recently to the Dublin City and Waterford City and County Council areas. The revaluation of South Dublin was completed in December, 2007; Fingal was completed in 2009; Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown was completed in 2010 and Dublin City and Waterford City and County were completed in December, 2013. The revaluation of Limerick City and County area is currently underway. It is intended to roll out the programme to Galway City and to Counties Carlow and Kilkenny shortly and the necessary consultation process is currently underway with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. While the Commissioner is exploring a number of initiatives to accelerate the programme, he cannot at present give a date for the commencement of the revaluation of all commercial properties in County Donegal or in other rating authority areas.
The Act also provides for the updating of valuation lists through the revision process to allow new properties to be valued and added to the list, improved and extended properties to have their valuations updated and properties that have been demolished in whole or in part to have their valuations amended or struck out as appropriate. The definition does not allow for a revision of valuation where the change in value is due to economic factors, differential movements in property values or other external factors such as roads or other infrastructural development in the vicinity of a property. I am informed by the Valuation Office that no application for such a revision of valuation has to date been received in respect of the property referred to by the Deputy.
The procedures for making an application for a determination of a valuation through the revision process are prescribed in section 27 of the Valuation Act, 2001. An occupier of a property, a rating authority, a person as respects a property to which he/she is an interest holder or an occupier of a property that appears on a valuation list for the same rating authority area may apply in writing to the Commissioner of Valuation for a revision of an existing valuation or for a new valuation to be determined in respect of a new building. The statutory fee prescribed for the service is €250 which should accompany the application to the Valuation Office.
