Dáil debates

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Fuel Poverty: Motion

Proposed Legislation

8:00 am

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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I recognise the significant effect new motorways have on businesses that have been bypassed and the refusal of the NRA to allow for signage to promote those businesses. I call on the Government to make amendments to the Valuation Act 2001 to state the bypassing of a property represents a material change of circumstances, as defined in section 3 of the Act. Valuations for rating purposes are made in accordance with the Valuation Act 2001. The Act confers authority to revise valuations on a revision officer only in instances where there has been a material change of circumstances. These are defined in section 3. They encompass circumstances where the structure or neighbouring structure has been rebuilt, or where a structure has for some reason been closed down or damaged by fire, for example. A material change, therefore, must be of a physical nature. The circumstances to which I refer concern a physical change, but not to the building subject to rates. A change in turnover or a decline in the level of business activity would be insufficient, I am told, to warrant the authorisation of a revision of a valuation. As neither of these events is a material change of circumstances as defined in the Act, the Act is too limited. It is a great problem that the Government and institutions of State cannot react to evolving circumstances.

Our road network is unrecognisable by comparison to that of ten years ago. I and most people are delighted with that. The new roads are safer, better for business and are wonderful but we must think of the businesses along the old routes, including a number of businesses on the old N8 in Tipperary, which has been bypassed by the M8, the Portlaoise-Cork road. Business has declined by 90% because of the bypass. Surely this is unfair.

I acknowledge that the new road was completed ahead of schedule and within budget. A wonderful job was done and we all say that is fine. While there was public consultation in the design of the new road, the county council officials and the NRA are totally intransigent in not allowing for any limited signage, although the council came up with a design for the signage. I refer to off-road signage that would not be on the roadway. I see how unfair circumstances are when I go to Cork, Limerick, Portlaoise, the other side of Tipperary and right up to Dublin, where there is signage everywhere. The system is not being implemented fairly.

Rate-paying business people, entrepreneurs, are affected. A landmark hotel, Kilcoran Lodge Hotel, was employing 40 people. Deputy P. J. Sheehan, who has now left the Chamber, always used to stop there. He told me he was only half way to Dublin when he reached Kilcoran. I am sure many of us have been there. The hotel employs many people but cannot survive. It cannot pay the huge rates. There ought to be some recognition of their plight. People from the town of Cahir going to transact business at the hotel end up on the motorway and cannot get off it until they get to Mitchelstown, which is a long distance away. This is very frustrating.

The hotel had a rate review recently. One must apply for a rate review through the national body. It costs €250 but one is adjudicated by the body that set the rate in the first instance. There is no independence or fairness. The rate reviewers say the hotel is as it was, is fine and grand. They are flippant about it but that is not acceptable. We must have an independent review body for everybody. It should not be the body that sets the rates.

There is a wonderful shop and filling station that sells light refreshments for the traveller and others in the village of Skeheenarinky. Some 90% of its business has been wiped away. I have had meetings with council officials and they have no understanding of the sheer loss of business and do not accept that if the local authority takes away one's business, that same local authority should not expect to have rates paid to it. One often heard the saying that one cannot get blood from a stone.

The tools of the trade have been denied to the people to whom I refer. They have a right to make a living, pay their staff, and pay their PRSI and taxes, which they always did diligently. They always provided good employment but their opportunities have been taken from them. They have been blindfolded and handcuffed behind their backs and they are not allowed to transact their business.

There will have to be changes to the Act. I appeal to the Minister, the Department of Finance, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and local authorities to examine the review system as it is unfair. It is not fair that those who set the rates review the rates. Surely there should be an independent body to review the rates for premises.

Photo of Tony KilleenTony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo.

The Valuation Act 2001, which came into effect on 2 May 2002 provides that all buildings used or developed for any purpose including constructions affixed thereto are rateable. In regard to the Valuation Act 2001, the commissioner of valuation is independent in the exercise of his duties under the Act, and the Minister for Finance has no function in decisions in this regard.

Under section 28(4) of the Valuation Act 2001, a revision officer of the valuation commissioner may carry out a revision of valuation in regard to a particular property only if a material change of circumstances has occurred since the property was last revised. A material change is defined in section 3 of the Act as a change of circumstances which consists of a new building, a change in value due to structural alterations of an existing building, total or partial demolition of a building or a sub-division or amalgamation of relevant property. The definition does not allow for a revision of valuation where the change in value is due to economic factors, differential movements in property values or other external factors such as roads or other infrastructural development in the vicinity of a property. The valuation of commercial property is determined by reference to the values of comparable properties on the same valuation list.

That is to say they are compared to similar properties in the same local authority area to ensure, in so far as it is possible, that they are all treated equally. Therefore, while external factors such as roads or other infrastructural development in the vicinity of a property have no impact on valuations determined at revision, they can by their nature have either a positive or negative effect on a business. For example, new motorways are allowing greater numbers of people to travel to outlying areas, bringing potential for increased trading. While some businesses may have been bypassed by the new motorways, on the whole, the new road system has received a general welcome throughout the country and could be seen to have a generally beneficial effect on businesses. Similarly, the valuations of commercial enterprises that have benefited from infrastructural developments have not been increased.

It is generally recognised that bypasses give the bypassed towns back to their communities; these towns have thrived in the absence of daily traffic jams, lack of parking, and the general hassle of trying to do business in such a congested environment. Bypasses improve accessibility for whole regions, reduce travel times and transport costs and make journey times more predictable. All this adds rather than detracts from the prospects for economic development in a region.

In regard to signage on roads, spatial planning and national roads guidelines were recently published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The guidelines indicate that the erection of advertising signage is tightly regulated for road safety and environmental reasons. Regulation of signage on national roads ensures that the information needs and safety considerations of road users can be fully and properly catered for. However, the authority's practice is to erect white-on-brown tourist signs identifying the town or village and including, as appropriate, symbols indicating the principal facilities and services available in the locations concerned.

It is at a revaluation that economic factors, differential movements in property values or other external factors such as roads or other infrastructural development in the vicinity of a property are accounted for in the valuation process.

With regard to the national revaluation programme, I am glad to report that steady progress is being made. In a typical revaluation of all the commercial properties in a local authority area, the entire list is brought up to date by reference to values at a specific date and the list is then published on one date, usually 31 December, and comes into effect on 1 January the following year. To date, revaluations have been completed in south Dublin and Fingal county council areas and the revaluation of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is nearing completion. In the next phase, it is intended to roll out the programme to a further local authority in the coming months and the necessary process of consultation, as provided for under the Act, is under way.

The Valuation Act 2001 has been in operation for eight years and the commissioner has now decided to initiate an internal review of the statute. The various provisions in the Act are being examined from a number of perspectives in the light of experience and the implications of judgments emanating from the valuation tribunal and the courts over the past seven years. In the context of this review, I will ask the commissioner to consider the matters raised by the Deputy.