495. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if, when a commercial premises is being valued for the purposes of commercial rates by Tailte Éireann, if it is Government policy that solar panels installed on the premises will result in an increased valuation. [51758/26]

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 operational 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.

Commercial buildings are rateable in that context under normal cicumstances and while solar panels on commercial buildings are not assessed separately, where they form part of a relevant property, the established commercial rates valuation methodology is that the overall value of that property is assessed as rateable 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.