Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to come to the House to discuss SI No. 226/2014. The issue has been highlighted by Senator Daly over a long period because most legislation is by way of statutory instruments and does not come here for scrutiny. By coincidence, this statutory instrument came into force on 1 June 2014, days after the local elections. It was signed before then. It specifically allows local authorities to collect rates on vacant buildings under section 5 of the particular Act. This is causing deep concern to people who are trying to rent their properties. There are many streets with vacant premises due to the economic downturn and the lack of initiative by the Government, yet the Minister has decided to allow local authorities to collect rates on those buildings as if they were trading. It has been the tradition that where a building was vacant, it was not rated for the period during which it was empty. I have experienced it myself. The minute a building starts trading, one is in a position to provide funds to the rating authority and to pay the rates. This is an illogical move that is causing great distress to many property owners the length and breadth of Ireland. Many of them have properties that have been empty for the past seven years, yet the local authorities will now be empowered under this statutory instrument to collect rates from those buildings even though their owners have no particular income. This is why it is important that we have a debate with the current Minister, who will be nominated as a European Commissioner next week, at which point there will be a new Minister. The point is that each council must assess the situation, and where councils do not collect this money the Department can reduce their block grant, so it is a very serious issue. I would like the Minister to give guidance to local authorities and explain the situation here before he departs for greener lands next week or in October 2014.