Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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309. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider a waiver on commercial rates, or a portion of commercial rates or taxes, for the owners of commercial properties with defective concrete blocks who have no government scheme available to them to remediate their properties and have to constantly spend money on necessary maintenance. [68537/25]

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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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 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.

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 Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019 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 waiver schemes, to be decided by local authority members. It provides for local authorities to make schemes, as part of the annual budget process, 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. Rates waiver schemes are decided by the elected members of a local authority. Regulations to support the making of rates waiver schemes were made in July 2024. These regulations require a local authority to consult with the public in its administrative area in relation to its consideration of the making of (or change to an existing) rates waiver scheme.