Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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253. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will list by urban rateable area, broken down by business type in tabular form the number of appeals to rate valuations received to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36061/13]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Valuation Office has been conducting a revaluation of all commercial and industrial properties in the Waterford rating authority areas (Waterford City Council, Waterford County Council and Dungarvan Town Council) and in the Dublin City rating authority as part of its ongoing programme to revalue all such properties in the State. This has resulted in the issue of Proposed Valuation Certificates to the ratepayers in relation to their property. However this process is not yet complete in Waterford as a small batch of outstanding Certificates will issue shortly. Ratepayers may make representations to the Valuation Manager if they consider that the proposed valuation or any details contained in the Proposed Certificate are incorrect. The representation stage is currently under way and will not be complete for some time. Following the processing of the representations to the Valuation Manager, the Final Certificates of Valuation will be published on 31st December, 2013, when each ratepayer in Waterford and Dublin City will have a statutory right to make an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if dissatisfied with the outcome of their representations. The Valuation Tribunal is an independent body set up to settle disputed valuations between the Commissioner of Valuation and the ratepayers of local authorities. Therefore, it will be early 2014, before the appeal stage is reached in respect of the Waterford and Dublin City rating authorities, accordingly it is not possible to provide the detailed statistical information which the Deputy is seeking at this stage. Under the Valuation Act, 2001, there is also a right of internal appeal to the Commissioner of Valuation. However, legislative proposals are currently before the Houses of the Oireachtas which would result in this appeal being removed. This is one of a number of legislative proposals set out in the Bill. However, it will be a matter for the Oireachtas to determine how such proposals proceed or otherwise.

For the Deputy’s information, three revaluations of commercial property have been carried out to-date in the rating authority areas of South Dublin, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and the number of appeals received from ratepayers in each of those rating authority areas is indicated in the following table. As already mentioned, similar information for Waterford and Dublin City will not be available until early 2014.

*% of Revaluations by the Commissioner of Valuation.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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254. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has given further consideration to placing a moratorium on the rates valuation process in Waterford until after the amalgamation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36062/13]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I would refer the Deputy to my reply to PQ 31103/13 of 26th June, 2013 in relation to the background to the Revaluation process currently underway in Waterford. The application of a moratorium to a revaluation because of local authority amalgamation considerations is not provided for under the Valuation Act, 2001, as the application of such an option would not affect the valuation process. Section 21 of the Act provides that a valuation list must be published within three years of the making of a valuation order.

The Government’s Action Programme for Effective Local Government, Putting People First, indicates that in the context of reorganisation of local governance structures, the proposed new municipal districts will provide an opportunity to achieve a more coherent approach to rates and charges on a county-wide basis, having regard to funding requirements and the need to support employment and business competitiveness. The Action Programme proposes rates harmonisation to cater for differences between Annual Rates on Valuation (ARVs) of towns and counties. The approach of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to rates harmonisation will seek to ensure, that harmonisation does not lead to significant net loss of revenue in individual counties with consequential implications for services, and that any change in rates does not impact negatively on businesses and employment. It is important that local government reform drives down costs to business in order to protect existing jobs and sustain our economic competitiveness.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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255. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform with respect to determination of commercial rates by the Valuation Office, if he will outline details of the rolling programme of valuation undertaken by the office; when each area of the country is assessed and in what order; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36131/13]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Valuation Office is currently undertaking a systematic programme of revaluing, for rates purposes, all industrial and commercial properties in the State. The immediate objective of the national revaluation programme is to ensure that the first revaluation of all rating authority areas is conducted as soon as possible. Revaluation is conducted across all relevant properties in one or more rating authority areas at the same time. However, implementation of the national programme cannot occur across the entire country simultaneously and the programme must, accordingly, be operated on a phased basis. Following the first revaluation, subsequent revaluations of each rating authority area will then be carried out on a cyclical basis no sooner than five years and no later than ten years after the first revaluation (Section 25 of the Valuation Act 2001).

Section 9(10) of the Valuation Act 2001 provides that the Commissioner of Valuation is independent in the performance of his functions. Section 19(1) of the said Act empowers the Commissioner to make a Valuation Order specifying a rating authority area over which a revaluation is to be conducted, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment and Local Government and the rating authority concerned. Steady progress is being made on the National Revaluation Programme. Between 2007 and 2010 the three Rating Authority areas of South Dublin, Fingal and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown were revalued comprising c.17,700 commercial properties which represents approximately 22% of the national rateable valuation base. Additionally, there are currently six revaluation projects in progress which include the Rating Authority areas of Dublin City, Waterford City and County and Dungarvan Town together with Limerick City and County comprising c. 38,000 commercial properties or 32.6% of the valuation base. Furthermore, the statutory consultation process, required before a valuation order can be made is under way with a further five rating authorities, Galway City Council, Kilkenny County Council, Kilkenny Borough Council, Carlow County Council and Carlow Town Council. Decisions in relation to a further set of rating authorities for revaluation are currently under consideration by the Valuation Office.

The current position as regards projects in train or pending is set out in the following table:

*2009 baseline data.