Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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384. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will undertake a scoping exercise on the effect of commercial rates on retail businesses; if he will examine whether a scheme based on annual turnover rather than net annual value would be more appropriate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28884/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by Tailte Éireann under the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2020. Tailte Éireann has responsibility for valuation matters, including the revaluation of properties. Tailte Éireann is independent in the performance of its functions under the Valuation Acts.

The amount of rates liable on a property is determined by multiplying the valuation of the property set by Tailte Éireann by the Annual Rate on Valuation (ARV) set by the local authority. The ARV is decided by the elected members of each local authority in their annual budget and its determination is a reserved function of a local authority.

Commercial rates income makes a significant and stable contribution to the funding of local government, providing between 13% and 43% of total funding for local services at individual local authority level, averaging 24% nationally. Rates income is a very important contribution to the cost of services provided by local authorities such as roads, footpaths, the public realm, litter management, public lighting, development control, parks and open spaces; all essential elements to create the environment in which businesses can prosper.

Analysis on the impact of rates on business costs is limited. What analysis is available concludes that commercial rates represent a small portion of overall business overheads compared to energy, rents, payroll and other inputs. A 2024 survey conducted by the Small Firms Association found that just 5% of businesses cited rates/water/other local government charges as being the single biggest challenge in respect of operating costs.

As with all local charges, the invoicing and collection of rates is a matter for the local authority concerned to manage in the light of prevailing local circumstances and in accordance with normal credit control procedures. My Department encourages local authorities to engage with ratepayers. In practice, it is understood that most local authorities promote the use of direct debit payment facilities and work with businesses to put in place flexible payment options that reflect capacity to pay.

The levying of rates based on an independent valuation is well established and provides a level of certainty and stability in relation to the income to be derived from rates. The introduction of a system based on turnover would create uncertainty by providing for continuous change to the valuation base. Such a system would not provide a stable basis for funding local government and would require significant additional resources to operate. As part of a balanced taxation system, other taxes are more appropriately designed to account for business performance (e.g. corporate tax, capital gains, labour taxes etc.)

The Government recognised the need to modernise the collection of rates and since 1 January 2024 local authorities are levying and collecting rates under the new legal rates framework of the Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019. The Act contains provisions to add to the suite of options already available to local authorities to support local businesses and ratepayers. These include new rates vacancy abatement and rates waiver schemes, to be decided by local authority members. The vacancy abatement scheme allows the local authority scope for targeted policies in respect of vacant commercial properties. Consideration can be given to the prevailing local economic environment and prevalence of commercial vacancy. Vacancy abatement schemes may be tailored to particular towns, zones within towns, types, or categories of vacant property or circumstances of the vacant property ratepayer. The rates waiver scheme provides for local authorities to make schemes to support local and national policy objectives, by waiving the paying of commercial rates in certain circumstances. It is open for a local authority to design a waiver scheme as long as it supports county development plans, local area plans, local economic and community plans and the national planning framework. Similar to the decision on the ARV by elected members, rates vacancy abatement and waiver schemes are decided by the elected members of a local authority. Many local authorities offer rates schemes specifically targeting SMEs and smaller businesses, providing a reduction on their rates bills if payment is made within defined timeframes.