Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

It is fair to say this is one of the greatest challenges facing commercial Ireland and its small and medium sized businesses, as the Minister is aware. It is also fair to say there has been no statement of substance from the Government that has given any degree of comfort or hope to commercial ratepayers. The Minister has met the new group, Irish Employers for Affordable Rates, which held a lobby last week across the road. Such is the message they have given me.

We realise the system is complex. There are some 170,000 businesses and they pay €1.3 million in rates per annum. At the Committee of Public Accounts this morning, the Valuation Office indicated the current revaluation exercise could take more than ten years and this is of great concern. We must see a degree of action on the matter. The Irish Employers for Affordable Rates pointed out, correctly, that Colm McCarthy was able to undertake an exercise swiftly and the Minister and the Government has accepted and is implementing many of his recommendations. The McCarthy group was able to undertake an exercise that started in late 2008 and finished during the middle of 2009 with the production of a comprehensive document. As the Minister is aware, we need action on this issue.

Will the Minister not consider the United Kingdom model whereby a business's ability to pay is taken into consideration? Has consideration been given to any variation or amendment to the Valuation Act? The household charge has been debated here and the Minister has announced that it will come into effect in January. I understand it will be a self-assessment tax, like the non-principal private residence, NPPR, tax. Could we consider a system of self-assessment for businesses based on another model, one that is perhaps similar to the VAT registration model for businesses above a certain threshold? At the moment small and medium sized businesses are falling flat on their faces. This is a barrier to their survival, a point we cannot emphasise enough. The Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Penrose, and every elected person in the House understands as much as well as everyone in the business community but nothing appears to be happening about it.

See this speech in context