Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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714. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the existing valuations will be implemented in view of recommendations to introduce a new mechanism for the commercial valuation system; the timeframe for adjudicating on valuations currently under appeal; when the businesses involved can expect to receive an update; and the timeframe for the businesses involved to receive information regarding same. [26692/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Commissioner of Valuation has responsibility under the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015 to maintain a valuation list for each Local Authority, of all commercial properties in that Local Authority area, which is used to calculate the rates due from individual ratepayers. Section 9(10) of the Act provides that the Commissioner is independent in the performance of his functions and I as Minister have no function in this regard.

Revaluation is a process where all rateable properties in a Local Authority area are valued periodically by reference to a single valuation date. Following the first revaluation, subsequent revaluations of each rating authority area are then carried out on a cyclical basis no sooner than five years and no later than ten years after the first revaluation (Section 25 of the Valuation Act 2001).

The revaluation provisions in the Valuation Acts provide for the revaluation of all rateable property within a rating authority area so as to reflect changes in value due to economic factors, differential movements in property values or other external factors such as changes in the business environment or infrastructural changes in the vicinity of a property. The Valuation Office is currently engaged in a national revaluation programme, the immediate objective of which is to ensure that the first revaluation of all rating authority areas in over 150 years is conducted across the country, as soon as possible, and on a phased basis. This is a welcome and positive development which is long overdue and on which considerable progress has been made in recent years.

Revaluation is an important instrument in redressing historical anomalies in relation to commercial rates. In fact, the general outcome of the revaluations finalised to date by the Valuation Office has been that about 60% of ratepayers have had their liability for rates reduced following a revaluation and about 40% had an increase, a pattern which is most welcome and is expected to be replicated elsewhere as the programme advances.

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 across businesses more equitably based on modern circumstances. Following revaluation there is a much closer and uniform relationship between contemporary rental values of property and the commercial rates liability of properties. In essence, the exercise aims to ensure that each ratepayer bears a fair share of the business rates burden relative to the modern rental value of the property that they occupy.

The national revaluation programme currently underway is the first general revaluation of all commercial property in the State since the middle of the 19th century. It is a very significant undertaking and involves the valuation of some 150,000 commercial rateable properties. Completing the first revaluation and getting properties in every Local Authority area onto the 5-10 year cycle of revaluations provided for in the legislation represents a sea-change for the rateable valuation system. The present position is that all rateable properties in the Dublin, Waterford and Limerick local authority areas are now re-valued. In addition, 11 public utilities representing some of the largest ratepayers in the State have been revalued on a global basis. In total, this represents approximately 57% of the national rateable valuation base in monetary value terms or 33% in numerical terms.

Significant progress is being made and the programme has established a momentum which is now being built upon as the current phase of work known as “REVAL 2017” is well underway and scheduled to conclude in September 2017. It covers counties Longford, Leitrim, Roscommon, Westmeath, Kildare, Offaly, Sligo, Carlow and Kilkenny and South Dublin county council area where a second revaluation is also underway in accordance with the previously mentioned section 25 of the 2001 Act.

Proposed Valuation Certificates issued in January 2017 for counties Leitrim, Longford, Roscommon and Westmeath, in March 2017 for counties Kildare, Offaly and Sligo and Proposed Valuation Certificates for Carlow and Kilkenny issued in May 2017.

Additionally, proposed certificates of valuation issued to all ratepayers in the South Dublin County council area in April 2017.While generally, most ratepayers are satisfied with the valuations proposed to be placed on their properties, there is an extensive system of redress available to ratepayers who are dissatisfied with the proposed valuations or with any particular on the certificate relating to their property. In this regard, a dissatisfied ratepayer can make representations to the Valuation Office within 40 days of the date of issue of the certificate. To date approximately 17% of ratepayers have made representations to the Valuation Office. The Valuation Office will consider the representations and may or may not change the proposed valuation depending on the circumstances of each individual property.

A certificate of final valuation will issue to each ratepayer in the aforementioned counties in early September 2017 and new Valuation Lists for each of the ten counties will be published on 15September 2017. The valuations on those Valuation Lists will be used as the basis for the assessment of rates by the local authority with effect from 1January 2018. If a ratepayer is still dissatisfied with the valuation on the final certificate which they will receive next September, they will have a right to submit a formal appeal within 28 days to the Valuation Tribunal, which is an independent statutory body established for the purpose of hearing appeals against decisions of the Valuation Office. In accordance with the Valuation (Amendment) Act 2015, the Tribunal shall endeavour to make a decision on an appeal made to it within 6 months from the date of receipt of the appeal.