423. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that the erection of solar panels on commercial buildings may render the surface area of those panels part of the rateable valuation of a commercial building; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47063/26]

Tailte Éireann is an independent Government agency and provides a property registration system, property valuation service, and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. Tailte Éireann is independent in the exercise of its valuation functions under the Valuation Act 2001, as amended (the Act), and I, as the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, have no function in decisions in this regard.

Tailte Éireann has overall responsibility under the Act, for the maintenance of all Valuation Lists used by Local Authorities in the calculation of rates liability. Under Schedule 3 of the Act, all buildings used or developed for any purpose are rateable unless expressly exempted under Schedule 4 of the Act. There is a very specific range of exemptions that can be applied, and Tailte Éireann has no discretionary latitude to grant exemptions not covered by Schedule 4.

Solar Panels do not qualify for exemption under any section of Schedule 4 of the Act. Electricity generation stations are identified as relevant property under Schedule 3 Paragraph 1 (m) of the Act. In addition, Section 51 of the Act allows for the valuation of plant, such as Solar Panels, which are part of a relevant property.

As a result, Solar Panels on commercial buildings, as referenced in the question, will be assessed as part of a relevant property in accordance with the provisions of the Act. As a matter of course, Tailte Éireann examines all properties on their individual merits by reference to the relevant statutory provisions governing the operation of the Act and case law arising from the independent Valuation Tribunal and the Higher Courts.

There are a number of avenues of redress for an occupier of rateable property who is dissatisfied with a determination of valuation by Tailte Éireann made under the provisions of the Act 2001. Firstly, before a determination is made, there is a right to make representations to Tailte Éireann in relation to a proposed valuation. Later in the process, if the occupier is still dissatisfied with the determination, there is a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal which is an independent body set up for the purpose of hearing appeals against determinations of Tailte Éireann. Following the process with the Valuation Tribunal, there is a further right of appeal to the Higher Courts on a point of law.