Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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307. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he is satisfied with the operation of the business improvement district initiatives to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16067/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Local Government (Business Improvement Districts) Act 2006 provided for the establishment of Business Improvement Districts within the functional areas of local authorities.

A Business Improvement District (BID) scheme is an organisational and financing mechanism with a legal basis, through which businesses can, on a self-help basis, develop and implement initiatives in defined areas to improve those areas for the betterment of the trading environment in which they operate. In a BID, a group of businesses are empowered, where a majority of those businesses agree, to raise a special levy payable by all the businesses in the defined area to pay for complementary local services and improvements, within that defined area.

The establishment of a business improvement district scheme in an individual area is a matter for the relevant local authority. I have no plans to amend the legislation in relation to BIDS but I will arrange for the operation of the initiative to be considered in the context of a possible broader engagement with ratepayers which is currently under consideration.