Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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23. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if the Government will bridge the financial gap caused by the net reduction in global valuation of commercial rates on utility companies. [44053/15]

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The Commissioner for Valuation has sole responsibility for all valuation matters, including the global valuation of property of public utility undertakings under Part 11 of the Valuation Act 2001, as amended. The Valuation Act 2001 comes under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Valuation Act 2001, as amended, provides for global valuations of utility undertakings, to be carried out by the Valuation Office every five years and entered on the central valuation list. The most recent global valuations carried out by the Valuation Office are in respect of Gas Networks Ireland, Iarnród Eireann and telecommunications companies BT Ireland, Eircom, Vodafone, Three Ireland and Meteor. On 4 November 2015 the Valuation Office issued a copy of the Valuation Certificate and a schedule setting out the apportioned value for each rating authority to my Department. The previous valuation for these utilities had taken place in 2010. The Global Valuation Certificates show a reduction in the combined valuations for these utilities of €112m. Moreover, the reduction in the global valuation of the ESB, following an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal, will reduce the rates payable by the ESB from 2016.

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. This process has recently been concluded in each local authority as part of the budgeting process for 2016. The implications of the Commissioner of Valuation’s global revaluation of utility infrastructure for individual local authorities will ultimately be dependent on each authority’s ARV, and its overall income and expenditure decided on in its budget.

My Department engaged with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and there will be a once off adjustment of €16.65 million in support from the Local Government Fund in 2016 to local authorities affected by the global valuations.