Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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299. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in view of representations from a company (details supplied) in County Cork, his plans to allow for a revaluation of commercial property rates in the council areas of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18443/15]

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 on a rating authority area basis. The purpose of revaluation is to bring more equity, fairness and transparency into the local authority rating system and to distribute the commercial rates liability more equitably between ratepayers. Following revaluation there generally will be a much closer and uniform relationship between rental values of property and their commercial rates liability.  In essence, the exercise aims to ensure that each ratepayer bears a fair share of the rates burden relative to the value of the property that they occupy. 

Section 9(10) of the Valuation Act 2001 provides that the Commissioner of Valuation is independent in the performance of his functions and decisions with regard to the selection of rating authority areas for revaluation is his sole prerogative. Section 19(1) of the said Act empowers the Commissioner, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment and Local Government and the rating authority concerned, to make a Valuation Order specifying a rating authority area over which a revaluation is to be conducted.

The revaluation programme which began with South Dublin County Council, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council areas has been rolled out more recently to the Dublin City Council area, Waterford City and County Council area and Limerick City and County Council area. The statutory consultation process, required before a valuation order can be made, is now being conducted in relation to a further three rating authorities, Galway City Council, Kilkenny County Council and Carlow County Council.

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. 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).  Accordingly, the next revaluation of the South Dublin County Council area will be undertaken between now and 2017 and the 2nd revaluation of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown will take place between now and 2020.