Given the statement by the Revenue Commissioners last week that they will be compiling information on valuing properties for the local property tax beginning in March, it is necessary to provide more information for the public.

Assumptions have been made in the media. I have spoken to individuals who are uncertain as to the valuation methods to be used by the Revenue Commissioners. If the Irish Independent is to be believed, surmising from the statement by the Revenue Commissioners, stamp duty records, electricity bills, rental details and household charge records will be used. With the exception of stamp duty, I am not sure how any of those payments are connected in any way to the value of a property. One would assume the vast majority of stamp duty records relate to the period before 2008, in which case, it would be very difficult to value these properties even if one were to take the industry average of 30% to 60% of loss in value since that period. It is very difficult to arrive at an accurate figure, even if only indicative.

I refer to reports in the media that property owners will have the option of valuing their property. I raised this matter in early January. It also came up for discussion in my constituency over Christmas. I refer to properties that are extremely difficult to value, such as those in estates affected by pyrite. There have been no sales of properties in the vast majority of those estates.