Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will only hear complaints from those who properties have been valued upwards, not downwards. There is an anomaly in the case of people who maintain a high rate of valuation which cannot be justified. One cannot collapse everybody down because that would hollow out the rateable base of the local authorities and impoverish them. I will give specific examples. In south County Dublin 49% of ratepayers had their rates reduced, while 39% had them increased. In Fingal County Council 65% were reduced, while 30% increased. The Ceann Comhairle might be interested to hear that in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown 54% were reduced, while 46% were increased. We need a balance. The dilemma was that there had not been a revaluation for so long. We had anomalies whereby the properties of some businesses were completely overvalued in the current climate, while some were completely undervalued. Migrating to fairness is difficult because those whose properties have been revalued downwards want immediate action, while those whose properties have been revalued upwards-----

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