Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Valuation Office is conducting a revaluation of all commercial and industrial properties in County Kerry as part of the programme to revalue all such properties in the State. In the last week, many people in the county have been shocked by the proposed valuation figures they have received. Traders and operators from all walks of life in all parts of the county are terrified at the proposed doubling and tripling of their rates demands, from one-man operators, small garages and repair shops, small pubs and shops, hardware stores, restaurants, hairdressers, chemists, bakers, butchers and sweet-shops to the big employers such as hotels, fabricators and manufacturing companies like Liebherr, Munster Joinery, concrete products and the likes.

Traders are told if they do not accept, they can appeal but a valuation officer has a right to visit the property. It is quite possible that many traders will close when they size up the situation they find themselves in. It is easier to keep doors open now than to try to get them to reopen later. I call on the Tánaiste to defer this process. Things are bad enough. People are struggling to survive after Covid, Brexit and now the massive increase in energy and all other costs. People should only be assessed on profits, not on sales or the market rental value.

This revaluation was postponed back in 2020 because of the virus. I ask that this process be deferred for the foreseeable future, especially because of increased energy costs while many traders are just finding their feet this year. They had the support payments from the Government over the last two years but trading after the pandemic has changed for many businesses, not least those that cannot operate online delivery services of supplies of food, clothes, furniture, parts and all types of goods and materials. They are disadvantaged because they must have a physical building on the side of a street. If a shop closes down, it adversely affects all other businesses on the street. One owner of a restaurant told me he has to pay for rent, increased wages, PRSI, PAYE, insurance, electricity, water, refuse and VAT, which is going up next March. The prices for heating and cooking oil have gone mad. This man's rates are proposed to go from €31,000 to €60,000. For others, rates will increase from €1,500 to €5,000 and €24,000 to €58,000 in places like Killarney, Tralee, Listowel, Kenmare, Dingle, Cahersiveen and Rathmore. Everyone who got a proposed valuation was given a figure - let us say it was €15,000 - and told to multiply that by 0.227 when they asked to get the real proposed figure. Why could the Valuation Office not have the correct figure it was proposing included in the document in the first place?

See this speech in context