Number 2 of 1988

VALUATION ACT, 1988

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

FIRST SCHEDULE

The Valuation Tribunal

SECOND SCHEDULE

Property to be Included in Global Valuation of Public Utility Undertakings

Number 2 of 1988

VALUATION ACT, 1988

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

1. —In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the Act of 1852” means the Valuation (Ireland) Act, 1852;

“the Act of 1986” means the Valuation Act, 1986 ;

“property” means any rateable hereditament;

“public utility undertaking” includes any undertaking, whether established by or under any enactment or otherwise, which supplies a service to the public whether throughout the State or in any part of the State;

“rating authority” means—

(a) the council of a county,

(b) the corporation of a county or other borough,

or

(c) the council of an urban district;

“rateable hereditament” includes any property to which the Act of 1986 or this Act relates.

2. —(1) (a) A tribunal, to be known as the Valuation Tribunal, shall stand established on such date as the Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment, shall by order prescribe.

(b) The provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the Tribunal.

(2) The Tribunal shall hear and determine appeals under section 3 (5) or 4 (11) of this Act.

(3) Subject to a right of appeal to the High Court on a question of law, the determination of the Tribunal shall be final.

(4) The Minister for Finance may, from time to time, appoint such and so many persons as he considers necessary to assist the Tribunal in the performance of its functions under this Act.

(5) Without prejudice to section 21 of the Interpretation Act, 1937 (which, amongst other matters, provides for pending proceedings) sections 22 and 23 of the Act of 1852 are hereby repealed with effect from the establishment of the Tribunal.

3. —(1) An owner or occupier of any property, the rating authority or an officer of the Commissioner of Valuation may apply at any time for a revision of the valuation of any property entered in the Valuation Lists or for the inclusion therein of any property not so entered.

(2) (a) Every application under subsection (1) of this section (other than an application by a rating authority) shall be addressed to the rating authority in whose area the property is situated.

(b) The rating authority shall submit to the Commissioner of Valuation a list of all applications made in the month beginning on the commencement of this section or in any succeeding month, in each case within ten days after the end of that month.

(3) The Commissioner of Valuation shall cause every application made to him under subsection (1) of this section to be determined within six months after receiving the application or as soon as may be thereafter and shall as soon as practicable issue a list of the determinations made in the quarter beginning on the commencement of this section or in any succeeding quarter, within ten days after the end of that quarter.

(4) (a) Where an application under subsection (1) of this section in relation to any property is made by any person other than the owner or occupier of that property, the owner and occupier, if known, shall be notified by the rating authority of the application.

(b) The owner and occupier, where known, shall be notified by the rating authority of the determination of the application and of his right to appeal in accordance with sections 19 and 31 of the Act of 1852 against the valuation determined by the Commissioner of Valuation and shall also be notified by the rating authority of the outcome of that appeal.

(5) (a) An owner or occupier of property or a rating authority in whose area the property is situated may, by notice in writing sent by post or given by or on behalf of the appellant, appeal to the Tribunal against the determination made by the Commissioner under section 20 of the Act of 1852 within 28 days after the publication of the list of determinations.

(b) The notice shall contain the particulars of the valuation as entered in the Valuation Lists and a statement of the specific grounds for the appeal.

(c) The Tribunal shall transmit a copy of every notice received by it to the Commissioner of Valuation (who shall be the respondent in, and be entitled to be heard and adduce evidence at the hearing of, the appeal concerned), to the rating authority or authorities concerned and to any other person appearing to the Tribunal to be directly affected by the determination and any such person shall be entitled to be heard and to adduce evidence at the hearing of the appeal.

(6) The Commissioner of Valuation shall, where any amendment falls to be made in the Valuation Lists pursuant to a determination of the Tribunal or a decision of the Court in relation to an appeal under this section, notify in writing the rating authority or authorities concerned of the amendment and cause the appropriate entry in the lists to be amended.

(7) This section shall have effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Valuation Acts.

(8) The Minister for Finance may, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment, by order prescribe the date on which this section shall come into operation.

4. —(1) (a) The Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment and any other Minister of the Government who appears to the Minister for Finance to be concerned, may by order direct the Commissioner of Valuation to provide for the determination of the valuation of the properties taken as a whole, wherever situated, of a specified public utility undertaking or of public utility undertakings of a specified description and specify the date by reference to which the determination is to be made and the date by which the determination is to be made. Every such valuation is referred to in this section as a “global valuation”.

(b) Every global valuation determined under subsection (1) (a) shall include all of the hereditaments which are used for the primary purposes of the undertaking whether or not such hereditaments are already revised and entered in the Valuation Lists and any such valuations as are already included in the Valuation Lists shall be deleted from such lists.

(c) Such property of a specified undertaking as, in the opinion of the Commissioner of Valuation, is for a purpose other than any of the primary purposes of that undertaking, shall be excluded in determining the global valuation.

(2) The net annual value of the undertaking shall be five per cent of the effective capital value of the property of that undertaking, including property specified in the Second Schedule to this Act.

(3) The Minister for Finance may, after such consultation as is provided for by subsection (1) of this section, by order amend the Second Schedule to this Act.

(4) The effective capital value of the undertaking shall be the aggregate of—

(a) the site values subsumed in that undertaking,

(b) the depreciated replacement cost of other property of the undertaking, that is to say, the cost of replacement of the property reduced where appropriate to allow for its age, condition and obsolescence and for any other factor, the effect of which is to reduce its value to less than the cost of replacement,

(c) the value of any easement or other right appurtenant or appendant to any property of the undertaking,

(d) the value of any right of the undertaking to transmit radio, television or telecommunications signals.

(5) Subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section shall have effect notwithstanding section 11 of the Act of 1852 but subject to section 5 of the Valuation Act, 1986 .

(6) The undertaking shall be treated for the purposes of this section as occupying a rateable hereditament in every rating district in which its services are available or in which its property is situated.

(7) The Commissioner of Valuation shall apportion the global valuation of an undertaking, determined or revised under this section, between rating authorities in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment, by order prescribe and the amount so apportioned to any rating authority shall be the valuation of the property of the undertaking in the area of that authority.

(8) The Commissioner of Valuation shall cause the global valuation of an undertaking to be revised in the fifth year after the determination of the valuation or the previous revision or sooner if the Minister for Finance, after such consultation as is provided for by subsection (1) of this section, or the undertaking, so requests.

(9) Every undertaking to which an order under subsection (1) of this section applies shall, within two months of being requested to do so, supply the Commissioner of Valuation with such information as he may require for the purpose of the exercise of his functions under this section.

(10) The Commissioner of Valuation, upon having caused a determination or revision under this section to be made, shall immediately notify the undertaking and the Minister for the Environment thereof and an appeal to the Commissioner may be made under sections 19 and 31 of the Act of 1852 and the provisions of sections 20 and 21 of that Act shall have effect.

(11) The undertaking and the Minister for the Environment shall each have the right to appeal to the Tribunal against any determination made by the Commissioner of Valuation under section 20 of the Act of 1852 by notice in writing served within three months of being notified thereof by the Commissioner of Valuation.

(12) The Minister for Finance may by order revoke or amend an order under this section.

(13) This section shall have effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other provision in the Valuation Acts.

(14) Whenever an order is proposed to be made under subsection (3) of this section a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

5. —(1) Immediately after the determination of an appeal by the Tribunal, any party to the appeal, if dissatisfied with the determination as being erroneous in point of law, may declare his dissatisfaction to the Tribunal.

(2) The party, having declared his dissatisfaction, may, within twenty-one days after the determination, by notice in writing addressed to the Chairman of the Tribunal, require the Tribunal to state and sign a case for the opinion of the High Court thereon within three months of the date of receipt of such notice.

(3) The party requiring the case shall pay to the Tribunal such fee as the Minister for Finance may by regulations prescribe for and in respect of the case, before he is entitled to have the case stated.

(4) The case shall set forth the facts and the determination of the Tribunal and the party requiring it shall transmit the case, when stated and signed, to the High Court within seven days after receiving it.

(5) At or before the time when he transmits the case to the High Court, the party requiring it shall send notice in writing of the fact that the case has been stated on his application, together with a copy of the case, to the other party.

(6) The High Court shall hear and determine any question or questions of law arising on the case, and shall reverse, affirm or amend the determination in respect of which the case has been stated, or shall remit the matter to the Tribunal with the opinion of the Court thereon, or may make such other order in relation to the matter as the Court thinks fit.

(7) The High Court may cause the case to be sent back for amendment, and thereupon the case shall be amended accordingly, and judgment shall be delivered after it has been amended.

(8) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from the decision of the High Court.

6. —(1) The Commissioner of Valuation may delegate in writing a specified function of the Commissioner under the Valuation Acts to any officer of the Commissioner but shall not delegate a function in relation to an appeal or application under sections 19 and 31 of the Act of 1852 to an officer who has previously performed a function in relation to the most recent revision of the valuation of the property concerned.

(2) Where a function is delegated under subsection (1) of this section the officer shall perform the function under the general direction and subject to the general control of the Commissioner and in accordance with such (if any) limitations as may be specified in the delegation in relation to the area or period in which or the extent to which he is to perform the function.

(3) Any function, when exercised by an officer to whom it has been delegated under this section, shall be deemed to have been exercised by the Commissioner.

(4) A delegation under this section may relate to the performance generally of a function or to the performance of a function in a particular case or class of case or in relation to rateable property in a particular area.

(5) The Commissioner may revoke a delegation under this section at any time either generally or in relation to a particular case or class of case or in relation to property in a particular area.

(6) Where, as respects a particular case, a delegation of a function is revoked at a time when the function has not been fully performed, the Commissioner himself or another duly delegated officer may continue the performance of the function as respects the case.

(7) The Minister for Finance may give general directions to the Commissioner concerning the exercise of his functions under this section and the Commissioner shall comply with any such directions.

7. —(1) The Minister for Finance may by regulation prescribe the fee to be charged in respect of an appeal to the Commissioner of Valuation under sections 19 and 31 of the Act of 1852 or to the Tribunal or an application to the Commissioner of Valuation, or any class of such appeal or application, under this Act.

(2) Fees under this Act shall be taken and collected in such manner as the Minister for Finance may from time to time direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance.

(3) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of such fees.

8. —Every application, notification and list required for the purposes of the Valuation Acts shall be in such form as the Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Commissioner of Valuation, may from time to time provide.

9. —The expenses incurred by the Minister for Finance or the Minister for the Environment or the Commissioner of Valuation in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

10. —(1) If in any respect any difficulty arises in bringing this Act into operation, the Minister for Finance may by regulations do anything which appears to be necessary or expedient for bringing this Act into operation, and any such regulation may modify the provisions of this Act so far as may appear necessary or expedient for bringing the regulation into effect.

(2) No regulation may be made under subsection (1) of this section after the expiration of two years after the passing of this Act.

11. —Every order under section 4 (7) or regulation under section 10 of this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order or regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the order or regulation is laid before it, the order or regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

12. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Valuation Act, 1988.

(2) The Valuation Acts and this Act shall be construed together as one.