Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This amendment makes three changes to Schedule 4 of the Act. Schedule 4 lists categories of property that are not rateable. The first change is to introduce an exemption for buildings or parts of buildings that are used for community sport but that are not used for the sale or consumption of alcohol or in the generation of income apart from club membership fees. The intention is to ease the rate burden on local sports clubs that involve local voluntary effort and that serve a valuable function in their community. At present, if a club has a bar then all of its premises are valued for rates purposes. This is the case even if the bar is only a minor part of the overall facility and the proceeds are used to defray the costs of running the club. This amendment will mean that it is only the commercial part of the club's building that will be valued and not buildings or parts of buildings used for community sport.

In proposing this amendment I am also conscious that sports clubs can be in competition with commercial licensed premises and other commercial operators. We can all think of examples, particularly in small towns and villages, of such competition. For this reason, I am limiting the exemption: it will not apply to any building or part of a building that is used to generate income that is not club membership income. This means that areas where food is served or prepared, retail areas and so on will continue to be valued. I do not want to put commercial operators at a competitive disadvantage while doing all we can to help local sports clubs in their voluntary effort.

The commissioner of valuation will provide guidelines in relation to the part of the sporting facility which may or may not be exempt under this provision and will develop a procedure for gathering the relevant information. I am also informed by the commissioner that the buildings or parts of buildings valued will be published and that this can be inspected through the website of the Valuation Office. This will increase transparency and discourage any abuse of this provision by a club which might try to minimise its valuation by stating that a smaller part of the building is used for commercial purposes than is actually the case.

The second change to Schedule 4 is a technical amendment that brings the qualification of "harbour" which used to be in section 15(5) of the Act into Schedule 14. Section 15(5) of the Valuation Act 2001 has already been deleted by the Local Government Reform Act 2014.

The third amendment relates to exempt properties occupied by a body established for the purpose of caring for elderly, handicapped or disabled persons - in other words, nursing homes. Paragraph (14) of Schedule 4 of the 2001 Act has the effect of exempting nursing homes not established for profit but whose expenses are defrayed wholly or mainly out of money provided by the Exchequer. The purpose of this provision is to obviate any possibility that nursing homes that are operating for profit but funded from the Fair Deal scheme would endeavour to be exempt from rates under this paragraph. The effect of this amendment is that nursing homes that obtain funding from the Exchequer but that also operate for profit will not be exempted from rates. This is the current situation in relation to nursing homes but I am using the opportunity of this legislation to clarify the situation.