John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would echo what Deputy Cowen has said. When this legislation was first published, many people got a bit of a fright. Having spoken to the officials since then, I understand the logic of this and Waterford serves as a very good example. I spoke to a senior official in Waterford city who made the case to me that the authority needed to apply sanctions in some cases because people were holding on to properties and sites. The authority wanted to have a sanction to deal with that so that people would move the properties or sites on. Then, in another part of the county like Dungarvan, for example, it made absolutely no sense whatsoever. To have a blanket 50% rate which applied to everyone in the country made absolutely no sense. There has been much talk about a two-tier economy in this country, which does exist. In the case of Dungarvan, for example, the fact that premises are vacant is not a matter of choice and Dungarvan is not the only place in the country where that is the case. There are many places that simply cannot get tenants and to apply a 50% rate would have been madness in this economic climate. The solution, in the form of a variation on the amendment tabled by myself and Deputy Dowds, is reasonable. It talks about the rates being set at district level within a particular local authority to allow for the differences between an urban area and a rural one. I thank the Minister for taking our amendment on board and tabling a variation on it. We appreciate the work done by Departmental officials in this regard too.

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