Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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757. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the estimated revenue received from removing the exemption from commercial rates for State owned buildings. [34450/13]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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827. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the estimated revenue received from removing the exemption from commerical rates for State owned buildings. [35294/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 757 and 827 together.

Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes, in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent Commissioner of Valuation under the Valuation Act 2001. T hat Act determines properties that can, and cannot, be considered for rating purposes.   The Commissioner for Valuation has sole responsibility for all valuation matters, including determination under the Act of relevant property for the purposes of rates.

Section 15(3) of the Valuation Act 2001 provides that relevant property, being a building or part of a building, land or a waterway or a harbour directly occupied by the State (including any land or building occupied by any Department or Office of State, the Defence Forces or the Garda Síochána or used as a prison or place of detention), is not rateable.

The Valuation Act 2001 comes under the remit of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The levying and collection of rates are matters for each individual local authority.  The annual rate on valuation (ARV), which is applied to the valuation for each property, determined by the Valuation Office, to obtain the amount payable in rates, is decided by the elected members of each local authority in the annual budget and its determination is a reserved function. The Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group (July 2010) estimated, at €50 million, the potential commercial rates liability of State properties.