Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move the amendment No. 7:

In page 9, to delete lines 4 and 5 and substitute the following:“(e) the public consultation process that must be followed by a local authority before a scheme under this section is approved;

(f) any other matters which appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of this section.”.

The amendment relates to a vacancy alleviation or abatement scheme on which there should be some public consultation. A scheme should be publicised by the local authority. This serves two purposes. First, it makes the process more transparent and, second, it engages with the commercial ratepayers. The more we educate our commercial ratepayers on the exact processes, the better. The amendment helps the process.

The same applies to amendment No. 8 which relates to a different section. I realise in reading this today that is there is an error in the drafting and I believe the Minister is aware of this error. The amendment should not delete line 4 but should be inserted after subsection (e). This amendment also provides for public consultation on an abatement scheme. The general thrust of this amendment is to engage the public in an alleviation or abatement scheme and allows the commercial ratepayer to engage in that process, which would bring greater transparency into the system.

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