Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

One restaurant a day is closing in this country and 82% of hotels will shed jobs before Christmas because of their financial position. Given that the Valuation Act 2001 envisaged that every rateable property would have its valuation revised every five to ten years and that to date the Commissioner of Valuation has only carried out revisions in three out of 88 rating areas around the country, the Minister must agree that is not acceptable. It has been found that where revision has been completed local authority rates are reduced by an average of 30% for hotels. Did the Minister have any discussions with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government? I do not know if the two strands of Government are talking to each other. The issue is critical at this stage.

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