Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue with riding schools and equestrian centres and how the commercial rates legislation interacts with them. I agree from a policy and public health perspective on the benefit of these centres at a time when we are trying to encourage our young people to be more active and have less screen time. I know this issue was also raised with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, in his engagement with equestrian centres. The Minister, Deputy Browne, has responsibility for our valuations legislation. I will talk with him and ask that he liaise with the Deputy on this matter. I know from memory that at the moment, if you reduce rates in one area - once again, we go back to our pie analogy - the pie stays the same for the county. Obviously, no one wants to move that burden to another place. Let me ask the Minister to take a look at that and engage with the Deputy to see if there are creative ways we can make progress.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01