Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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232. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will put measures in place regarding commercial rates to assist businesses when major road works are ongoing in their area over a sustained period of months; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many businesses suffer a substantial loss of business during such projects and have to let staff go; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that no reduction is given on their commercial rates bill; and his views on whether recognition must be given to such businesses in order to assist them to remain in a trading position. [28396/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Local authorities are required by legislation 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 Acts 2001 to 2015. 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.

Local authorities work closely with ratepayers experiencing difficulty in the payment of commercial rates. In this regard, local authorities are facilitating the payment of commercial rates by instalments and work with businesses to put in place flexible payment options that reflect capacity to pay.