Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2020
269. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to release funds to local authorities for the commercial rates waiver scheme that applied up to the end of September 2020; his plans to extend the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31107/20]
View answer290. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to waive commercial rates for businesses in the first quarter of 2021. [31760/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 269 and 290 together.
An initial three-month waiver of rates for businesses forced to close business due to COVID-19, was announced in May. In recognition of the fact that not only were many ratepayers forced to close business due to the public health requirements, but also many that remained open suffered significant reductions in turnover, the waiver was extended from three to six months until 27 September 2020. A 100% waiver was applied to all businesses with the exception of a small number of categories, mainly banks, utilities, large supermarkets and corporates. The rationale for the exclusion of certain categories of ratepayers is that their operations are not as severely impacted by the pandemic, coupled with the need to direct resources appropriately. €600m was allocated by Government to fund the cost of the six-month waiver, which takes the form of a credit in lieu of rates.
An initial allocation of funding relating to the waiver, is being paid to local authorities this week. The main allocation of funding will be made to local authorities following submission of the relevant claim forms from local authorities at the end of October. Claims relating to appeals from excluded categories are due at the end of November and the final allocation will be paid to local authorities following completion of that process.
In Budget 2021, the Government announced an extension of the waiver for the final quarter of the year (until end of December 2020) at an additional cost of €300m. The criteria for the extended waiver remains the same and it is intended that the waiver for the final quarter will be automatically applied to rate accounts that benefitted from the six-month waiver. A total of €900m has been allocated by Government to fund the cost of a waiver of commercial rates for nine months to the end of December, for eligible businesses. This unprecedented measure offers support to businesses and certainty to our local authorities. My Department is currently preparing guidance on the administration of the extended waiver for the final quarter.
