COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 11, 2026

QUESTION NO. 3

QUESTION: Councillor L. de Courcy

To ask the Chief Executive if the Council will review commercial rates for hauliers and other businesses that are heavily reliant on fuel during the current fuel crisis.

REPLY:

Local authorities in Ireland have a statutory obligation to levy and collect commercial rates on all rateable commercial properties. This obligation is reinforced by the Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019, which came into effect on 1 January 2024.

The Act states that in each local financial year, each rating authority shall impose and collect a charge levied in respect of a relevant property included in the valuation list caused to be published by the Commission of Valuation.

Therefore, South Dublin County County has a statutory duty, not a discretionary one, and rates are a significant source of income for South Dublin County Council.

Under Section 15 of the Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019, a local authority may introduce one rates waiver scheme per financial year but only if it meets strict criteria, such as:
• It must be proposed at a Strategic Policy Committee
• Go through public consultation
• It must be approved by the Members
• It must support one of the following objectives: a National Spatial strategy, the organisation’s development plan, a local area plan or a local economic and community plan
• It must be made in advance of the financial year concerned.

Waiver schemes must be objective based and cannot be created ad hoc in response to market conditions.