asked the Minister for Finance if he has considered the recommendations of the inter-departmental committee established in 1978 to examine the Dublin inner city area, which recommended inter alia that the Valuation Acts be amended to enable the Commissioner of Valuations to assign a valuation to derelict and vacant properties and to provide a basis for such valuation.
Written Answers. - Valuation Acts.
70.
The recommendations in the report have been considered. The Commissioner of Valuations advised that the amendment proposed would be contrary to the fundamental principle underlying the valuation code which is that rateable valuation depends on the letting value of a property and that amendment of the Valuation Acts to render derelict and vacant properties, which have no letting value, liable to rates would not be appropriate.
The principal public authority agents of urban renewal are the local authorities. The Minister for the Environment has had consideration given to the problem of dereliction and urban decay with a view to reducing the amount of derelict property, particularly in inner urban areas and to improve the appearance of those areas. Possible solutions to the problem by way of penal rating of property or taxation of derelict sites involve complex issues which still need to be resolved. The report of the Joint Committee on Building Land also has touched on the question of dereliction and urban decay from the point of view of the supply of land for development and, having regard to the extent of derelict sites in the hands of public authorities, has recommended measures which would have an effect on the market for urban land generally and assist in bringing derelict sites into development. The recommendations of the committee are being considered. In addition the preparation by the Minister for the Environment of the general scheme of a Bill to consolidate and modernise the powers of local authorities in relation to the acquisition and disposal of land is well advanced; this should considerably improve the capacity of local authorities to deal with derelict sites.