Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 8, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:

“Timeframe for valuation of commercial property

9. Tailte Éireann shall, within 4 months of the substantial completion of a commercial unit, assess the Net Annual Value of the property and set a valuation in line with rental values at the specified valuation so that commercial rates may be applied.”.

This amendment relates to the Valuation Office and the length of time it takes to value commercial units. Often, housing developments which could have been described as newer, though many of them now are built out ten or 15 years, have a considerable level of vacancy in the commercial units. I have stated before that some are in my constituency, in areas like Clongriffin, but the level of vacancy is a national issue. Incredibly, the Valuation Office has not valued the empty units for commercial rates ten, 12 or 15 years on. This is significant because local authorities no longer provide a full exemption on empty commercial premises. They charge a level of rates on them to encourage a commercial or meanwhile use. If it is not commercially viable and there is no meanwhile or community use a unit can be put to and which could contribute to this vacancy rates bill, it forces the question of whether there is an oversupply of commercial units. Do some of these units need to be converted to residential use? Could they be converted to such use if they are on the ground floor? There are issues with that because there must be enough services and a balance of uses in any large new development. However, if a valuation is done, it helps move this along in terms of insufficient housing supply and insufficient commercial, meanwhile or community uses in developments that are not complete.

It is unacceptable that the Valuation Office, more than ten years on in many areas, has not valued these commercial units. That is a logjam that is holding this up. If the Minister of State does not propose to accept my amendment, although I hope he does, how will the Government address this issue? What will the Valuation Office do to ensure we are not in this position in a decade's time, with places not being valued for rates?

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