2026-01-27

Ar dtús báire, tá an cheist seo an-dáiríre. Baineann sé le gnólachtaí a chuireann seirbhísí cúnamh linbh ar fáil ar fud Contae Phort Láirge. Tá sé thar a bheith deacair dóibh leanúint ar aghaidh ag cur na seirbhísí sin ar fáil de dheasca billí a bhfuaireadar roimh an Nollaig ó Chomhairle Cathrach agus Contae Phort Láirge ag eascairt ó athluacháil de chuid Tailte Éireann. This is a really serious issue affecting childcare providers in County Waterford. I have no doubt similar issues, if they have not arisen, will arise in other counties. Almost a dozen childcare providers I have been in touch with received astronomical rates bill from Waterford City and County Council just before Christmas. These are private businesses solely providing the early childhood care and education scheme, funded entirely by the State, which were never liable for rates in the past and did not expect to be so liable. Three days before Christmas, they were hit with rates bills, of €4,280 in some cases and, in other instances, of an eye-watering €12,040. I am glad the Minister of State is sitting down for that figure. These operators are telling me they cannot continue if they have to pay these rates bills. There has been discussion in the Chamber in the past few weeks about the issues affecting the childcare sector, how many providers are closing their businesses, letting staff go and leaving the industry, and how many parents are finding it hard to get childcare spaces. Every provider that leaves the industry places a greater burden on parents seeking to access childcare. That is before we get into the costs of running these businesses and the affordability for parents of having their children cared for in those settings. The rates bills came as a surprise, as I said, because these businesses had never before been liable for rates or received such a bill. They operated on the legitimate understanding that they were exempt from rates because they provided purely ECCE services. They did not operate additional childcare services or, indeed, any other commercial operation from their premises. They were operating on the basis of a circular issued by the Valuation Office in 2010, which stated that to be exempt from rates required compliance with certain qualifying criteria. These were that the property be used exclusively for the 38-week sessional ECCE-funded preschool services and for no other purpose, such as childminding, creche services funded by private fees or any other commercial use, and that the expenses incurred in providing this ECCE preschool sessional service must be defrayed wholly or mainly out of moneys provided by the Exchequer. The providers satisfy those criteria and have always done so. Nothing in their business operation or service provision has changed, yet Tailte Éireann took it upon itself at the end of last year to conduct valuations of their premises and then to issue notice to Waterford City and County Council, which was duly bound to issue bills to them seeking what I would say are extortionate rates. Those rates will put them out of business, thereby reducing a level of service in rural areas and small towns in County Waterford, much-needed employment in those communities and a vital service for parents who may have to commute to work in Clonmel, Waterford or as far as Little Island in Cork. I am hoping to hear that the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, have a plan of action. I am seeking clarification as to whether there has been a change of policy and whether these businesses that were previously exempt from rates are now rateable. What has changed, when was that policy changed, by whom and for what reason, and how was it communicated, or if there has been no such change in policy, how will the issue be resolved in order that these businesses can keep providing the services that are so badly needed?

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to clarify the position regarding early childhood care and education facilities, commercial rates and the role of Tailte Éireann in that regard. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. Tailte Éireann is an independent Government agency that provides a property registration system, property valuation service and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. It is independent in the exercise of its valuation functions under the Valuation Act 2001, as amended, and neither the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage nor his Department has any 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 liabilities. Under the Act, all property is rateable unless it falls into one of the exempt categories listed in Schedule 4 to 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. Paragraph 22 of Schedule 4, which was inserted by the Valuation (Amendment) Act 2015, refers specifically to early childhood care and education facilities and 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". Therefore, while the Act provides that early childhood care and education facilities that are 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 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 a rateable property who is dissatisfied with a determination of valuation by Tailte Éireann made under the provisions of the Valuation Act 2001, as amended. First, 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. Thereafter, 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 as 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, as 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.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It clarifies the situation in that he stated explicitly that for-profit childcare providers are liable for rates. However, there has been a change of policy. It may have taken place several years ago but there has been a change of policy and that policy was not executed in County Waterford. These businesses were not liable for rates in the past but they have now been hit with these bills. Nobody has communicated this change of policy to them. Several of them, if forced to pay these rates bills, will have no option but to shut down. The Government is missing a trick here. These might be private commercial operators in one way but, on the other hand, they are providing exclusively a State service that is paid for exclusively by the State. In effect, they are agents of the State and their existence and their provision of the ECCE service is precisely because they are filling a gap the State has left in rural communities in places such as Lemybrien, Kilmacthomas, Lismore, Abbeyside and Touraneena. They are facilitating people, particularly women, to have their children looked after in order that they can go to work in rural Ireland, contribute to the local economy and have that level of independence. They are providing a service the State has never provided, paid for by the State, yet they are being hit with rates bills of €12,040 in some cases. I take it from the Minister of State's answer that there has been a change in policy and it happened several years so but is only now being executed and put into effect in Waterford, where it is creating havoc. There is a gap here and it is something the Government needs to address. In effect, these agents for State services are being put out of business when the sector is already in freefall.

I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to clarify the position regarding commercial rates liabilities for ECCE facilities and the role of Tailte Éireann in the matter. As I said earlier, I am taking this Topical Issue debate on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Browne. Tailte Éireann is independent in the exercise of its valuation functions under the Valuation Act, as amended. The Act provides that early childhood care and education facilities that are operated on a not-for-profit basis are exempt from rates. It does not provide a general exemption from rates from all childcare or childminding facilities operating on a for-profit basis. There are a number of avenues of redress for an occupier of a property who is dissatisfied with a determination of valuation by Tailte Éireann. The billing and collection of rates is solely a matter for the relevant local authority and, as I said, Tailte Éireann has no function in that regard.