Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To pick up on Deputy Casey's point, the Minister said the general outcome of previous revaluations has resulted in a 60% reduction for rate payers and 40% of businesses had experienced an increase. He said there were only isolated cases where there were significant increases and that they were a rarity. Meath had a revaluation this year, as had Wicklow, and Westmeath and Longford had revaluations last year. I kept all the local newspapers from that period. Individual businesses had significant increases and they were certainly not rarities. If the Minister of State has been told they were rarities he has been wrongly advised. Certain businesses such as public houses and so forth were hit with multiple increases which have the potential to close those businesses. That is what this amendment seeks to address. People want to pay the charges being levied on them but the issue the way they can do so. The Minister of State admitted in his response to me that a phasing arrangement should be examined. That is what we are pushing for in this amendment. As Deputy Casey said, this scenario is developing because of the tardiness of the Valuation Office. I tackled its representatives when they appeared before the Committee of Public Accounts on this matter. The sheer lack of pace in the manner in which they are doing their job has caused this situation in the first place in the context of the timeframes involved.

That has already been admitted and accepted this morning. The Minister of State agreed that the appeals process and delays in that regard are adding to the problem. As I said, I will press the amendment.