Written answers

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Department of Justice and Equality

Valuation Office

Photo of Seán FlemingSeán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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82. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when the Valuation Office will commence a project (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32688/16]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy that the Valuation Office is currently undertaking a systematic programme of revaluing, for rates purposes, all industrial and commercial properties in the State. 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. The immediate objective of the national revaluation programme is to ensure that the first revaluation of all rating authority areas in over 150 years 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 9(10) of the Valuation Act 2001 provides 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 Act empowers the Commissioner, after consultation with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community 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, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council areas has also been rolled out to the Dublin City Council area, Waterford City and County Council area and Limerick City and County Council area. Since November 2015, revaluation is currently underway in the County Council areas of Kildare, Leitrim, Longford, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath. Additionally, the second revaluation of South Dublin has commenced and statutory valuation orders were recently signed to signal the commencement of the revaluation of Counties Carlow and Kilkenny. The revaluation in these two County Council areas is being conducted on a pilot basis using external resources (outsourcing). The enabling provision to adopt this approach was provided for in the Valuation (Amendment) Act 2015, the effect of which is to allow the Commissioner to contract out some of the revaluation work, in order to augment the in-house capacity of the Valuation Office.

The Deputy will be aware that the Valuation (Amendment) Act 2015 has as its primary purpose the acceleration of the national revaluation programme. It contains a number of measures in this regard. In addition to the outsourcing of part of the revaluation work, the Act also provided for the Commissioner to conduct a revaluation with the assistance of the occupiers of property using elements of self-assessment. This provision – known as “Occupier Assisted Valuation” - is one of the express provisions intended to assist the acceleration of the national revaluation programme. This approach, though readily used in personal and corporate taxation codes, has not been used to date in comparable jurisdictions in relation to property valuations for rating purposes. I am advised that the Commissioner intends running a pilot project involving the revaluation of the approximately 2,300 commercial properties in County Laois rating authority area using ”Occupier Assisted Valuation”. Towards this end, the Valuation Office has conducted the necessary statutory consultations with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and with Laois County Council and is now embarking on the development of appropriate technical and statutory systems of valuation which will underpin the pilot project and allow for its initiation in 2017. Careful planning is required at this stage as the pilot involves an entirely different interaction with occupiers of property than has been the case heretofore.

The Occupier Assisted participative approach involves the use of new sophisticated valuation tools for the first time and requires the development and implementation of extensive information and communications technology facilities. In particular, the provision of a wide range of on-line supports will be essential to the success of the project, including use of video and audio technology to assist ratepayers in carrying out their elements of the process. It is also intended that there will be extensive engagement with the ratepayers through an information campaign which will be undertaken to ensure maximum participation to ensure the success of the pilot. While at this stage, the Commissioner cannot be precise about the proposed date on which he intends to sign the statutory Valuation Order to formally commence the revaluation in County Laois, I am informed that he expects to do so no later than 31 July 2017. Following the signing of the order, the Valuation Office intends to undertake a publicity and information campaign during which each individual ratepayer will be written to informing them of the commencement of the project and requesting information in relation to their property. There will also be a programme of engagement with the various trade bodies and representative associations with the purpose of keeping them abreast of developments.

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