Results 3,261-3,280 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Byrne for his kind words. I am not afraid to admit my views last year in a referendum which the Government gave a commitment to hold. I am a democrat, which I hope everybody in both Houses of the Oireachtas is. I found the debate in the House on the first piece of legislation with which I have substantively dealt to have been very productive. I hope that following Report...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I thank Senators Quinn and Barrett for this amendment. I have tried to explore and discuss it rationally. The issue of profitability and how it interacts with the rates system was discussed on Committee Stage. I made the point that it is the job of the Valuation Office to attach a value to a building. It is then through other agency interactions that the amount to be paid is arrived at....

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This amendment was discussed on Committee Stage. This is a rates issue and measures have already been taken earlier this year by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in this regard. The Local Government Reform Act 2014, enacted in January, introduced a repeal of subsequent occupier liability, the effect of which removed the liability placed on new occupiers of...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I have looked positively on this amendment but I do not see a need for it. The members of the Valuation Tribunal are appointed by the Minister and are independent of the Valuation Office. In general, the members have either a legal or a professional valuation background, as these are the skills-sets most appropriate to the work of the tribunal. I see the validity of this amendment in the...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I thank all Senators for their contributions. I thank Senators Quinn and Barrett for proposing this amendment. I will begin by reading the formal response. An occupier already has the right under section 27 of the Valuation Act 2001 to seek a review or a revision of the rateable value of his or her property. A rating authority may also apply to the valuation commissioner for a revision of...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I will indeed.

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This is a technical amendment that clarifies the list to be referred to for the properties in a rating authority area that are the subject of a revaluation. As defined by the legislation, a valuation list is a list that has been compiled as part of a revaluation exercise. An existing valuation list is a valuation list that existed before the commencement of the Valuation Act 2001. Not all...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This amendment is a correction of a typographical error in a cross-reference between sections that are being inserted by the Bill. At present, the reference in 26A is to section 26D(2). This would only allow the occupier to make representations on a proposed valuation in limited circumstances. The intention is that all occupiers whose valuation is being determined using the new...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: One can appeal to a tribunal, but I am just getting clarity on that because it refers to an earlier section. On the amendment, the current legislation entitles a broad set of persons to lodge an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. Those entitled would include rating authorities, landlords, an interest-holder in a property and other ratepayers in the rating authority area. In the context of...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I pay tribute to Senators in this House, to my own officials and to the interest groups, particularly the Irish Hotels Federation and the Society of Chartered Surveyors, for their interaction on a subject that generated much debate in this House on Committee Stage, namely, the interpretation of the new section 19(5) and whether an occupier's right to appeal was in any way restricted. In...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I thank Senators Quinn, Barrett and Keane, who I acknowledge feel strongly on this matter. At the outset, I accept it is the job of Members in Parliament to get into the nitty-gritty of legislation and I am pleased we are doing that but the overarching aim of the Bill is to modernise the valuation process and to speed it up. The enabling of outsourcing will be a really significant step...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: These are technical changes to the section that provides for the limiting of the aggregate amounts of rates that a local authority can collect in the year after revaluation. The order is made to assure ratepayers that a revaluation is about rebalancing the rates liability among ratepayers to reflect modern values and not about increasing the rates take. The amendments proposed will ensure...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: These are minor amendments to the new Part 12A, which provides in primary legislation that all land and buildings previously held by the Minister for Finance are transferred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I flagged these amendments on Committee Stage. The first is a correction of a simple referencing error. Sections 56A, 56C and 56D referred to the commencement of...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This is a correction of a simple cross-referencing error. The Bill, as published, would have inserted a section 26H but after amendments made on Committee Stage and with consequent renumbering, there no longer will be a section 26H. The references in section 65 should be to section 26G and that is the purpose of these amendments.

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This is a relatively simple amendment to try to remove any doubt about the Valuation Tribunal's entitlement to publish the judgments of the tribunal. The tribunal does currently publish judgments and has an implied discretion, even a duty, one would argue, to publish them. The publication of judgments has not been questioned but it has been advised that the tribunal be provided with express...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This amendment is the one I am most eager to implement. I have heard from Senators on all sides of the House about this matter. Senator Keane has taken a particular interest in this area and has spoken to me about it. Senator van Turnhout also raised the issue on Committee Stage as, I think, did Senator Byrne. I acknowledge the calls from Senators on Committee Stage for a more favourable...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Senator Keane makes a very compelling argument. The provision of child care is a policy objective on which we have to do better, which I think is agreed by all parties. The valuation element has a very small role. When I had an opportunity in this Bill to engage with Senators on all sides of the House I was asked to find out how much one could do. This was not originally envisaged when the...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: These transitional provisions are required to clarify whether the Valuation Act as it stands, prior to the enactment of this Bill, or the Act as amended by this Bill, will apply to cases that are already in the system so to speak. The basic principle being followed in these transitional provisions is that if a decision has been taken and communicated to the person concerned prior to the...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This amendment updates the collective citation of the Valuations Acts 2001 to 2014 to include the Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Act 2014. This is a technical matter.