Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of rates, which is close to my heart and close to many business people's hearts. We see that €60 million will be put into the rural regeneration scheme, but rates are a problem in many small rural towns, although previous Governments have done nothing about it. Legislation governing the rates system goes back to the 1800s, but the only rule concerning rates is that one must pay them. In the midlands and Munster, the Valuation Office went into businesses that had fought through tough times in the recession and revalued their rates upwards. In some cases, their rates have been trebled. We are trying to keep family businesses in town centres but they have struggled for survival in the recession. Now, however, we are multiplying their rates threefold.

Many respectable business people are currently being dragged through the courts due to unpaid rates. We helped GAA clubs, and rightly so, when bars were put in via new legislation. We now need new legislation to deal with rates. We also need a debate on this matter to get something done.