Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 May 2020
1074. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she has considered exempting early years providers from commercial rates; and if an assessment has been conducted as to the cost of the measure. [3969/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe matter of rates payments for the early learning and care and school age childcare sector does not fall under the remit of my Department, nor does my Department have a role in determining which properties are rateable. The levying of commercial rates is the responsibility of the Valuations Office, which falls under the aegis of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. As such, and as my Department does not hold data in respect of commercial rates, I am not in a position to provide an estimated cost of exempting early learning and care providers from commercial rates.
However, my Department has made considerable investment in the provision of affordable and accessible quality childcare, and I am conscious that the issue of commercial rates may be a barrier to achieving these goals.
The issue of commercial rates has been regularly raised by the sector, in particular through the National Early Years Forum, which I established in 2016. My Department has taken a number of steps to pursue this matter, including meeting with relevant officials to explore the possibility of obtaining an exemption of the application of commercial rates to private childcare providers, on the basis that they are educational facilities. Services which operate the ECCE programme only ( free pre-school) are already exempt.
Further efforts in this regard included my writing to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, requesting reconsideration of the position of private childcare facilities in respect of their rateability for commercial rates. It was confirmed that there are no proposals under consideration for a discount of commercial rates for private childcare providers, and that the Commissioner of Valuation has no discretionary latitude to grant exemptions not covered by Schedule 4 of the Act.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has agreed to suspend commercial rates for businesses most immediately impacted by Covid-19, including childcare facilities, for three months. This is just one of a suite of measures the Government has put into place to support the early years learning and care sector in these unprecedented times.
