Commercial Rates
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-27
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Conor D. McGuinness (SF), Waterford

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 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.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-27