Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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1040. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to create a commercial rates rebate scheme for areas in which significant traffic disruption has taken place due to road works or underground utilities upgrades. [12328/18]

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, 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.    

As provided for under section 66 of the Local Government Act 2001, local authorities may decide to offer assistance or money in kind in order to promote the interests of the local community, which includes, inter alia, the economic or general development of the administrative area (or part of it) of the local authority concerned.  Also, local authorities work closely with ratepayers experiencing difficulty in the payment of commercial rates.  In this regard, local authorities facilitate the payment of commercial rates by instalments, and work with businesses to put in place flexible payment options that reflect capacity to pay.

Furthermore, my Department has developed legislative proposals to modernise and consolidate the legislation governing commercial rates, and last year the Government approved the drafting of a Commercial Rates Bill.  Among the measures included in the General Scheme of the Bill are provisions to allow a local authority to introduce rates alleviation schemes to support the implementation of policy objectives, including: local economic and community plans; objectives contained in Development Plans and Local Area Plans; and national planning policies. The Bill is currently with the Attorney General’s office for drafting, with a view to its introduction as soon as possible.