Pádraig Ó Céidigh (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit ag an Teach seo, agus tugaim tacaíocht don Bhille atá sé ag cur inár láthair. I support this Bill and think it is bringing us in a positive direction. A few important issues have already been mentioned by my colleagues, and I hope the Minister of State and his team take them on board.

It has been noted that the rates collection process should be centralised. The local council could still carry out the administration and set the rates, but the process of collection could be more complete. The percentage of collections would be greater if it were centralised, and a number of services provided by local councils are centralised already, so it should not be too difficult to do. Another factor to be considered is the Valuation Act 2001. Some parts of that Act still need to be executed, so that needs to be looked at. This Bill refers to amendments to parts of that Act. Parts of this Bill are both interesting and important.

I know from speaking to IBEC, the Small Firms Association, ISME, and others about this Bill, that small and medium enterprises, SMEs, are supportive of it in general. They support paying their rates and do not have a problem with that. What they have a problem with, which Senator Coffey mentioned earlier, is that some people are paying the rates and others are not. That is a big issue.

Senator Coffey also raised the issue of transparency in how rates are calculated. What are the differences between one rate and another? That transparency is critically important. IBEC has suggested that there should be reasonably significant corroboration in the setting of rates and the business communities which are paying the rates, which is a good idea. Last year, the rates received from local businesses amounted to €1.55 billion, which is approximately 30% of the total budget for local government. However, that changes significantly from one area to another. For example, it is clear from the SME report I and other Senators put together that tourism is important in counties such as Donegal and Kerry, while it is not as relevant for SMEs in Dublin, so we should take those factors into consideration. If there is a recession in tourism, places like Donegal will be hit much harder than places like Dublin.

In response to Senator Humphreys, my sense is that Senator Coffey was not talking about the divide between urban and rural areas but about something quite different. He was referring to the issues of particular businesses, regardless of whether they were urban or rural. That is my interpretation of what he said. There are challenges for both urban and rural businesses, but rates are an overall, collective issue. Paying a rates tax transcends the urban-rural divide.

Business people want to know what happens to the money they are paying, and right now, we do not know what is happening to it. I may be wrong about this, so please correct me if that is the case, but it appears to me that local councils look at their expenditures for the year and the revenues they can expect to take in that year, and make up the balance in rates. If that is the situation, we need to change it. I could be wrong, but that is my understanding of how it works.

As others have said, we need to have a good solid debate on the overall role of councils. Local councils should have more authority and control over their local areas, because they know those areas well. We need a full and frank debate on the future of local authorities. Local elections were held recently, and councillors receive a salary in the region of €15,000 or €16,000 a year, but they deserve much more for the work they put in. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.