Results 43,521-43,540 of 46,267 for speaker:Simon Harris

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: It is not about disadvantaging taxpayers, rather it is about ensuring that every taxpayer is treated equally. It is about ensuring that a taxpayer, when having his or her rates assessed or having a valuation done, having provided all the information in regard to his or her premises, is not put at a disadvantage by somebody who has not. I will give the Senator more detail. This provision...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: I take the point the Senator is making. To be very clear, the only purpose of this provision concerns those who had the information when it was sought. If one has new information one would be entitled to produce it-----

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: -----at the tribunal.

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: The provision does not do anything to prevent people providing new information. Rather, it prevents people from holding onto information and withholding it until they get to the appeals stage. In that regard it is quite fair. It is also important that at representation stage people can provide all the information they want. There is a process in place at representation stage to provide...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: It is very important that the Bill is read as a whole. If there is a situation where any information one has can be provided right up to the issuing of a certificate and though the representation stage, the amendments refer to the fact one was asked by the Valuations Office to provide information which every other ratepayer can be asked to provide. It is not something it thought about later...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: Any new information can be provided right up until representation stage.

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: We are only referring to information which has been requested. If the Valuations Office estimates a valuation because no data has been provided, the appellant will be able to provide that data at appeals stage. It refers to people who have been asked for information but did not provide it. It does not refer to anything else at appeals stage. The ratepayer still has the opportunity to...

Topical Issue Debate: Flood Prevention Measures (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: The Deputy knows I do not make commitments I cannot fulfil so I make today's commitment in this House on the basis of information I received from my officials and on the basis that funding has been provided for the scheme in the OPW capital budget up to 2016. The Deputy is correct that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, must give consent to this scheme, as...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Reilly for tabling these amendments. Again, I note what she is trying to do but I would contend that the Government has already gone some way towards doing what is envisaged. The 40-day period in which to make representations on a revision is already being extended in the Bill from the 28-day period which currently applies. The proposed 40 days in which representations can...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: I will outline the position with regard to amendments Nos. 45 and 62. Amendment No. 45 contains a new provision to equip the commissioner with additional authority in the context of addressing anomalies on the valuation list pending revaluation of the rating authority area. The commissioner will no longer be obliged to rely on the determinations of the Valuation Tribunal or the higher...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: I dealt with both amendments.

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: The 2001 Act introduced a new first-line opportunity for ratepayers to challenge proposed valuations by means of making representations, a matter to which I have already referred during the course of this debate. This relatively informal process was designed to allow and has enabled the Valuation Office to engage constructively with ratepayers before valuations are finalised and published....

Topical Issue Debate: Flood Prevention Measures (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Coonan for raising the Templemore flood relief scheme today and on a number of occasions during the two and a half months I have been in office. I accept it is a very important issue to him and his constituents. I had an opportunity to meet the Deputy and a number of residents in Templemore prior to my appointment to my current post and I know the importance of the issue for...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: Section 12 provides that section 28 of the Act of 2001 be replaced by a new section 28 to enable the Commissioner of Valuation to appoint a revision manager to carry out revisions of valuation in accordance with the Act and with such guidelines on relevant matters as may be issued by the commissioner from time to time. This amendment has the effect of enabling the commissioner to appoint...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: The question Senator Byrne raises is a fair one. The logic behind these amendments is that they would provide greater consistency. At the moment the system is not consistent, and on the last occasion on which we had this debate we heard many examples of inconsistencies in the application of various functions. Having a revision manager to oversee consistency and standards prevents a...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: The proposed amendment would result in serious anomalies in the valuation list, which would be at variance with long-established valuation practices and the core principles of correctness, equity and uniformity which underpin the legislation. Under current valuation practices, if one took a parade of ten identical shops which were all of equal rental value and occupied by ten different...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: Amendment No. 42 is proposed in order to align the legislation under which a local authority makes a rate with the revision amendments of a valuation list made by the commissioner. The background to this proposed change is that there are existing provisions in section 28(14) and 28(15) of the 2001 Act which provide for an amendment to the valuation list to have effect from the date of its...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: I disagree fundamentally with Senator Byrne, which probably does not come as a great surprise to him. First, I do not think it is fair to level criticism. I know the Senator said he meant no disrespect to the Valuation Office but the amendments and legislation before this House are signed off on by the Cabinet collectively. All the amendments before the House today have the collective...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: I am not going to get into the tit-for-tat of why it has been two years. I could ask the Senator why the previous Government did nothing in 14 years.

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2014)

Simon Harris: I am not going to play politics with this Bill. It is an honest attempt to try to modernise the system. What I and nobody else in government have done is suggest that it is an answer to all the challenges faced by small business. In the last exchange we had here on Committee Stage, I outlined my view that there is a role to play in terms of local authorities and in respect of the...