Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Roche for raising the issue. I agree that we do not want people who are running a business to decide it makes economic sense to run it from their home. Last Friday, I was in Macroom where we saw the opposite. I met a woman called Nickie who owns a business called Juniper Lane, which makes homemade products, including jewellery and the like - very nice stuff. She had been doing that work from home and availed of a Government grant for a derelict property and converted an old derelict pub on the main street of Macroom. She took the business from her kitchen table onto the main street and brought a derelict building back into use. That is the direction of travel in which we want to go as a Government. It is important in terms of the vitality of main streets, in particular in rural communities. I had the pleasure of being with the Deputy in an abbey in Craughwell and in Kylemore recently, where we spoke to cheese producers. Rural Ireland is the beating heart of our indigenous economy.

The Deputy raised a specific issue regarding rates and I thank him for doing so. It is stating the obvious to say that commercial rates are an important contributor to the funding base of any local authority in terms of the provision of services. It is important that we are always aware of the challenges that can sometimes be posed to ratepayers and employ the suite of options available to try to support them. This is governed under the Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019, which was commenced in late 2023. I am informed that this adds to the suite of options already available to local authority to try to support local businesses. Local authorities are using have used this new legal framework since January 2024. Provisions include new rate waiver schemes to be decided by local authority members as part of the annual budget process. I do not say that pressure on councillors; I know they often have a difficult job to do in making everything add up.

There is now an ability to have a rates waiver scheme and this is designed to support not just national policy objectives but local policy objectives that Galway County Council might have in terms of certain initiatives it wants to see take place in rural communities. It is now open to local authorities to design a waiver scheme that supports their county development plans and local economic and community plans. Regulations to support the making of a rate waiver scheme require a local authority to consult with the public in its administrative area and get the views of the public.

It is never the purpose of a revaluation to increase the commercial rates collected. Sometimes this is a misnomer. It is actually about balancing. Where somebody's goes down or somebody else's goes up, the pile stays the same size. I am told by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that large increases are rare, although I am sure they can happen. The Deputy has outlined one very large example about which I want to learn more. I have also been told that in terms of revaluations to date, the trend is that about 60% of ratepayers have experienced a decrease in their commercial rates bill. Next week we will welcome our Galway council group to Government Buildings for engagement. Perhaps we can have further discussions on this then.

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