Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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34. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the measures her Department proposes in conjunction with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation under point 76 of the action plan for rural development to conduct a revaluation of commercial properties in nine rural counties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4243/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Action Number 76 of the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development, "Realising Our Rural Potential", published on 23 January 2017, provided a commitment to conduct a revaluation of commercial properties in nine rural counties to ensure fairness and equity in the levying of commercial rates on business with a view to rolling out to further counties in 2017.

The Valuation Office is currently undertaking a systematic national programme of revaluing, for rates purposes, all industrial and commercial properties in the State on a rating authority 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. The immediate objective of the revaluation programme is to ensure that the first revaluation of all rating authority areas in more than 150 years is conducted as soon as possible. Following this 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, in accordance with Section 25 of the Valuation Act 2001.

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 2001 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. I am advised that 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.

The current phase of the National Revaluation Programme known as "ReVal 2017" covers revaluation of counties Longford, Leitrim, Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly, Kildare, Sligo, Carlow and Kilkenny for the first time since the nineteenth century. These are the nine counties referenced in Action No. 76 in the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development "Realising Our Rural Potential", published on 23 January 2017. The revaluation of these nine rural counties is expected to be completed in September 2017 and become effective for rates purposes from 2018 onwards.