Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The Valuation Office is responsible for the valuation of industrial and commercial property in the State. These valuations are used as the base for the levying of rates by local authorities. The appropriation account indicates that, in 2011, the Valuation Office cost €9.6 million to run. The expenditure includes around €650,000 in respect of the work of the valuation tribunal, which handles appeals against valuation determinations by the Valuation Office.

The Valuation Office has two major streams of work. First, it carries out revisions of rateable valuations, based on the existing valuation norms for a specific geographic area. This is required where there are new developments or alterations to existing rated properties. Second, the Valuation Office has been engaged since 2001 in a phased national revaluation programme, designed to bring the valuation of all properties into line with recent rental values. Previous work by my office, reported on in November 2007, outlined these Valuation Office programmes in detail and drew attention in particular to the slow pace of the revaluation programme, due to certain operational inflexibilities. I understand that faster progress is now being made in relation to that work. The Accounting Officer will be in a position to update the committee on developments in that regard.