PART 4

Property to be Valued

13. —The Commissioner shall provide for the determination of the value of all relevant properties (other than relevant properties specified in Schedule 4) in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

14. —(1) A provision of this Act providing that relevant property shall be rateable shall be construed as a provision to the effect that the property is property in respect of which a rate may be made and like provisions of this Act shall be construed accordingly.

(2) The use in this Act of the expression “relevant property” in relation to property that may be the subject of a valuation under Parts 4 to 7 rather than the expression “hereditament” or “tenement” (being expressions that were used, for the corresponding purpose, in the repealed enactments) shall not affect—

(a) the operation of any enactment not repealed by this Act that—

(i) confers power to make a rate or determine the rate in the pound of a rate,

(ii) provides for the treatment of property in any particular manner for the purpose of the exercise of such a power,

(iii) provides for the remission of a rate or the making of an allowance in respect of a rate,

(iv) provides for the assessment, collection or recovery of a rate,

(v) provides for any matters consequential on, or incidental to, the foregoing, or

(vi) provides for any matter (not related to any of the foregoing matters) by reference to the rateable valuation of a property,

or

(b) the operation of the rules of law that apply in determining whether one person as distinct from another is in occupation of a property for the purpose of liability to pay a rate made in respect of the property,

and, accordingly, on and from the commencement of this Act, references in such an enactment to—

(I) a hereditament or tenement shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to relevant property (within the meaning of this Act),

(II) a rateable hereditament or tenement shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to relevant property that is rateable by virtue of this Act.

15. —(1) Subject to the following subsections and sections 16 and 59, relevant property shall be rateable.

(2) Subject to sections 16 and 59, relevant property referred to in Schedule 4 shall not be rateable.

(3) Subject to section 16 , relevant property, being a building or part of a building, land or a waterway or a harbour directly occupied by the State (including any land or building occupied by any Department or office of State, the Defence Forces or the Garda Síochána or used as a prison or place of detention), shall not be rateable.

(4) A fishery on which a rate is struck under section 55 of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959 , shall not be rateable.

(5) In subsection (3) “harbour” does not include a harbour in respect of which a company is established pursuant to section 7 of the Harbours Act, 1996 .

16. —(1) Save as specified otherwise in this section, the provisions of section 15 providing that relevant property shall or shall not be rateable shall have effect in each year, beginning with the year in which this Act is commenced.

(2) If particular relevant property referred to in section 15 (1) was not rateable under the repealed enactments, section 15 (1) shall, with respect to that property, have effect in each year, beginning with the year immediately following the year in which this Act is commenced.

(3) If particular relevant property referred to in subsection (2) or (3) of section 15 was rateable under the repealed enactments, that subsection (2) or, as the case may be, subsection (3) shall, with respect to that property, not have effect until the year immediately following the year in which this Act is commenced.

17. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) and section 53 , where a valuation falls to be made under this Act of relevant properties, each separate relevant property shall be valued separately and entered as a separate item in the relevant valuation list.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), for the purposes of any valuation falling to be made under this Act, an officer may, if he or she thinks it proper to do so having regard to the circumstances of the matter—

(a) value or cause to be valued contiguous relevant properties that are occupied by one person as a single relevant property even though those properties are held under different titles, and

(b) if a relevant property comprises 2 or more parts capable of being occupied separately, value or cause to be valued the several parts as separate relevant properties even though those parts are occupied by the one person,

and where the officer so values or causes to be so valued relevant properties or parts of a relevant property, the relevant properties or parts shall be treated as a single relevant property or, as the case may be, separate relevant properties for all the other purposes of this Act.

(3) In subsection (2) “officer” means a valuation manager or a revision officer.