Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)

Recently I have been inundated with business people who are unable to pay their rates demand. I did some research on it and I always understood that rates were calculated on the square footage of a business but that is not the case. It is only part of it. The other part of the way rates are calculated is on the best achievable rent of a property. During the Celtic tiger years business people paid their rates willingly, and they paid willingly the annual increases in rates, but in terms of where we are now achievable rents are probably half of what they were three or four years ago. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to the House for an open debate which should be given adequate time because there is much to be discussed. There are many people suffering and businesses closing because they are unable to pay their rates.

An issue that I would like included in such a debate is the ongoing review by the Valuation Office into rates. It has taken it a year and a half or two years to cover Dublin. At such a snail's pace a review of rateable valuation throughout the country will take up to ten years. While part of the rateable valuation is calculated by the square footage, it should be borne in mind that one could have a 4,000 or 5,000 sq. feet business with a turnover of €0.5 million per year and they are paying their rates on their-----