David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their brevity and their words on the Bill. On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, I thank the House for facilitating an early discussion of this short rather technical Bill. As I stated, the Bill now before the House contains important provisions relating to court jurisdiction and the rateable valuation system. Moreover, a number of important amendments to the Bill were tabled on Committee Stage relating to the position of Taxing Master and the transition of that post to the new office of the legal costs adjudicator. That was in the Dáil.

Enactment of the Bill would be accompanied by the making of a commencement order by the Minister for Justice and Equality, which would bring provisions originally enacted in the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 into operation, namely, sections 45 to 48, inclusive, and 50 to 53, inclusive. These contain provisions which determine the Circuit Court's jurisdiction on the basis of a property's market value rather than its rateable valuation. Where the market value is less than €3 million, the Circuit Court will have jurisdiction. Otherwise, the proceedings will be heard in the High Court.

The Bill includes two amendments to the Valuation Act 2001, which were designed to clarify the evidentiary nature of a certificate issued under section 67 of the 2001 Act and to provide that certificates issued under that section are based on the value of other comparable properties appearing on valuation lists existing prior to the roll-out of the new valuation system under the 2001 Act. These amendments will ensure that section 67 will continue to operate as originally intended by the Oireachtas.

The Bill also contains important provisions relating to the position of the Taxing Master and the transition from Taxing Master to the office of the legal costs adjudicator, as provided for in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

The Bill also provides for the repeal of a number of rateable valuations related to licensing provisions which have been overtaken by the detailed provisions of the planning and developments Acts. This is an important but largely technical Bill and for the stated reasons I commend the Bill to the House.