Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The arguments on Irish Water have been well-rehearsed in this House, the other House and in public. If the intention of Deputy Fleming's amendment is to make Irish Water rateable, I am advised that it would not succeed in doing so, even if passed. Schedule 3 sets out classes of property that are regarded as relevant property for the purposes of valuation. Schedule 3 describes property in very general terms and includes all types of buildings, mines, networks, rights to drill for petroleum, tolls, advertising stations and so on. All rateable property is described at a high level in just two pages in Schedule 3. Given that Schedule 3 does not need specific references to owners or occupiers such as Irish Water, the amendment would duplicate what is already provided for. Irish Water's property, be it buildings, land or networks, is already captured in Schedule 3. The amendment proposed would not make Irish Water rateable. Exemptions for the rates are provided for in Schedule 4 and the exemption from rates for Irish Water is provided for in subsection 21 of Schedule 4 of the Valuation Act 2001, as inserted by section 12 of the Water Services Act 2014, as the Deputy said. The reasons for making this exemption have been well-rehearsed and were fully debated when the Water Services Act 2014 was making its way through the Oireachtas. I do not propose to accept the amendment.

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