Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the case of some businesses, particularly small businesses - obviously, I want to ask Mr. Lavelle about the position in Limerick because I am interested in what is happening there - rates as a percentage of their overall costs are higher than rents because of the way things have progressed. Rents have dropped, but rates are the key factor for many of them in making a business decision. The danger is that businesses, particularly those on the high street - I see this happening in Limerick city - will be pushed over the edge in being revalued purely on a market value basis. The new Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 provides for self-assessment. Mr. Lavelle might guide me through that process. Will there not be an appeals process? There is the possibility that if we revalue based on market value alone for the retail sector, it will force many businesses to shut down.

Many of them are already in arrears. They are under enormous pressure. I see it in Limerick city. I know the city well and I know the business sector reasonably well. Many of them are barely surviving. There are three elements to that, which Deputy Deasy mentioned. There is the valuation, which the Valuation Office does, the rate struck by the local authority, and the collection system in terms of the individual local authorities. What is Mr. Lavelle's thinking on the retail side? From what he is telling me the industrial side is relatively self-explanatory but what he is actually saying is that, in the main, people in industrial units will not see any significant change, whereas the retail side could see a change.