Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 April 2017
98. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a breakdown of the business categories covered under the revaluation 2017 programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16185/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra134. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of businesses that are being revalued for the purposes of commercial rates in each of the nine local authorities currently undergoing systematic revaluation by the Valuation Office; and if she will provide a statistical breakdown showing the length of time in years that each business was last revalued, for example, the number of businesses that have not been revalued for three years, five years, ten years and so on. [16325/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 98 and 134 together.
The Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015 provide for the valuation of all commercial and industrial property for rating purposes. The Commissioner of Valuation is independent in the performance of his functions under the Acts and the making of valuations for rating is his sole responsibility. I, as Minister for Justice and Equality, have no role in decisions in this regard. Having a modern valuation base is very important for the levying of commercial rates on a fair and equitable basis across all economic sectors. This has been the policy of successive Governments for many years and is the express purpose of the National Revaluation Programme now being rolled out by the Valuation Office. The current phase of the national revaluation programme, known as "REVAL 2017" covers the revaluation of all rateable properties in counties Longford, Leitrim, Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly, Kildare, Sligo, Carlow and Kilkenny, where a revaluation is being undertaken for the first time in over 150 years. The revaluation in these counties will be completed in September 2017 and will become effective for rating purposes from 2018 onwards and the programme will then be extended to other counties. The revaluation provisions in the Valuation Acts 2001-2015 provide for the revaluation of all rateable property within a rating authority area so as to reflect changes in values due to economic factors, differential movements in property values or other external factors such as infrastructural changes in the vicinity of a property and changes in the local business environment.
Revaluation is an important instrument in redressing historical anomalies in relation to commercial rates for both urban and rural properties and between particular classes of property within a local authority area. Following revaluation there is a much closer and more uniform relationship between contemporary rental values of property and their commercial rates liability. In essence, the exercise aims to ensure that each ratepayer bears a fair share of the rates burden relative to the modern rental value of the property that they occupy. In fact, the general outcome of the revaluations conducted to date by the Valuation Office has been that about 60% of ratepayers have had their liability for rates reduced following a revaluation and about 40% had an increase, a pattern which is most welcome and is expected to be replicated elsewhere as the programme advances.
The Valuation Act 2001 provides that all buildings and lands used or developed for any purpose are rateable. The basic premise under the Act is that all properties (including buildings) and all developed land are rateable unless expressly exempted under Schedule 4 to the Act. Included in the business category would be all commercial properties across the entire economic spectrum and would typically include such entities as retail outlets; industrial units; office premises and property in the hospitality sector such as hotels and licensed premises which when taken together form the vast majority of commercial property liable for rates. On the other hand, Schedule 4 contains a list of property types which are exempt from rates such as domestic residential premises; places of public religious worship; non-profit making educational institutions; public healthcare property; agricultural land and farm buildings; and property occupied by charitable organisations.
It is important to bear in mind that pending the revaluation of all commercial properties in a local authority area, revisions of the valuation of individual properties will continue to be carried out by the Valuation Office for which there is express provision in Part 6 of the Valuation Act 2001 (as amended). The revision process, which is quite separate from the revaluation programme, provides for the updating of valuations on the existing valuation list between revaluations so that new properties can be valued and added to the list, improved and extended properties can have their valuations updated, and properties that have demolished in whole or in part can have their valuations amended or struck out as appropriate.
The following Table sets out the number of properties currently undergoing revaluation in each of the nine rating authority areas. This is an estimated number as new properties are coming on-stream throughout the process and non-rateable properties are being removed from the valuation lists. As already indicated, this is the first general revaluation of all properties in each of the nine counties since the mid-nineteenth century. However, the valuation of some individual properties in each county would have been revised under Part 6 of the Act, as new properties were added to the valuation lists, existing properties extended or properties no longer rateable removed from the lists. I am advised by the Commissioner of Valuation that there is no requirement in the legislation for the categorisation of rateable properties by business sector and accordingly that information of the number of properties being revalued by business category is not available.
|
County Council Rating Authority Area |
Estimated Number of Properties Undergoing Revaluation |
|
Carlow |
2,000 |
|
Kildare |
5,100 |
|
Kilkenny |
3,000 |
|
Leitrim |
970 |
|
Longford |
1,450 |
|
Offaly |
2,400 |
|
Roscommon |
2,100 |
|
Sligo |
2,200 |
|
Westmeath |
2,970 |
|
Total |
22,190 |
