John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The system is not fair. I know how it works and what is being proposed. I acknowledge that this is not the Minister of State's portfolio. The system is the problem. It will put people out of business. The town council in my home town, Dungarvan, has a lower rate valuation than the county. On its abolition, local businesses run the risk of being harmonised with the county rate. They may suffer an increase in their rates due to amalgamation. They also face a doubling or tripling of their commercial rate on foot of the revaluation process. It is a double whammy. Has anyone in the Government thought about that? Does anyone in the Government care? If the Government does care, what is it going to do about it? We are putting businesses to the wall. Everyone here likes to have his or her photograph taken with Christine Lagarde and President Obama, but we must keep our eye on the ball when it comes to taxpayers and businesses that are failing, and we are not doing so. I know how the system works. It puts businesses to the wall. When one doubles or triples a business's rates bill, only one thing will happen. This is not an equitable redistribution of the rates burden.

There are things that are outside our control and things that are within it. The CAP talks the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, is undertaking right now involve the competing interests of other member states. We must acknowledge that and do our best in the negotiations. While we cannot determine entirely the outcome of talks on matters such as the CAP, the rates issue is within our grasp. It is basic, fundamental stuff concerning the administration of our governmental systems and the impact on taxpayers. We cannot ignore the impact this is having on businesses. If we ignore the impact, questions will be asked of the Government about its knowledge of what is happening on the ground in local economies.

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