1753. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider exempting childcare facilities from rates in the Budget process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61196/26]

1766. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if an ECCE-only childcare facility is liable for commercial rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60076/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1753 and 1766 together.

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 the Act, all property is rateable unless it falls into one of the exempt categories listed in 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. In general, the Act, maintains the long-standing position that all properties of occupiers that operate with the intention of making a profit are rateable.

It is understood from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality that the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme is a universal free two-year preschool programme available to all children within the eligible age range.

The Valuation (Amendment) Act 2015 introduced paragraph 22 to Schedule 4 of the Act which refers specifically to early childhood care and education facilities. This paragraph provides an exemption for childcare providers that exclusively provide early childhood care and education and are established and operated on a not-for-profit basis.

Paragraph 22 of Schedule 4 of the Act provides an exemption for:

“Any land, building or part of a building used exclusively for the provision of early childhood care and education, and occupied by a body which is not established and the affairs of which are not conducted for the purpose of making a private profit.”

Paragraph 22 of Schedule 4 of the Act provides that early childhood care and education facilities that are established and operated on a not-for-profit basis are exempt from rates; it does not provide a general exemption from rates for all childcare or childminding facilities operating on a for-profit basis. To avoid ambiguity, if an early childhood care and education facility is established and operated on a for-profit basis, then it does not fulfil the criteria for exemption under Paragraph 22.

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 Valuation Act 2001, as amended. 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. There is a right of appeal to the Higher Courts on a point of law.

Under Irish law there is a distinct separation of functions between the valuation of rateable property and the setting and collection of commercial rates. The commercial rates payable on a particular property is a product of the valuation of that property determined by Tailte Éireann multiplied by the “Annual Rate on Valuation” (ARV) which is set annually by the elected members of the local authority as part of its budgetary process. The billing and collection of rates is solely a matter for the relevant local authority. Tailte Éireann has no function in that regard.