Ireland appoints eleven ordinary members to the Valuation Tribunal

James Browne, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has appointed eleven ordinary members of the Valuation Tribunal for terms running from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2031, and has reappointed three further members for terms beginning on 1 December 2026. The appointments were made in exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister by Part 3, Section 12(4) of the Valuation Act 2001, as amended. The notice, headed “Appointments to the Valuation Tribunal”, is carried in Iris Oifigiúil No. 89 of 6 November 2026 and is dated 4 November 2026.

The statutory basis of the appointments

The notice is issued by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and records that the Minister acted under Part 3, Section 12(4) of the Valuation Act 2001, as amended. The text is published bilingually, in English and Irish, in the appointments section of the gazette.

The same Minister has been active in the valuation field in recent weeks: Iris Oifigiúil of 9 October 2026 carried two Global Valuation (Apportionment) Orders made by him under sections 53(8) and 58 of the Valuation Act 2001, one concerning RTÉ Transmission Network DAC (S.I. No. 510 of 2026) and one concerning Virgin Media Ireland Limited (S.I. No. 508 of 2026). Both were made by reference to the Tailte Éireann Act 2022 and the Global Valuation (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2024.

Eleven ordinary members appointed until 2031

Each of the eleven is designated in the notice as an ordinary member, with an identical five-year term of 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2031:

• Andrew Muckian
• Eimear Carey
• Gerard Murphy
• Kieran Binchy
• Kate Conneely
• Kate Curran
• Nichola McCartan
• Niamh Ryan
• Peter Cunningham
• Robert D O’Neill
• Sheila O’Riordan

The list is ordered alphabetically by surname and is set out in a single block in the gazette notice without further biographical detail or indication of the sectors from which each member is drawn.

Three members reappointed on shorter terms

The department also reappointed three existing members, whose new terms run from 1 December 2026 to 30 November 2029:

• Brian Meldon
• Killian O’Higgins
• Thomas Kearns

These three-year reappointments differ in both start date and duration from the new five-year appointments, beginning a month later and expiring two years earlier, in November 2029 rather than October 2031. The notice does not state the reason for the difference, which leaves the tribunal with a staggered renewal pattern rather than a single cohort turning over at one date.

What the notice changes

Taken together, the notice records fourteen individual decisions on the membership of the Valuation Tribunal: eleven new five-year appointments taking effect at the start of November 2026, and three reappointments taking effect a month later. The earliest of the new terms does not expire until 31 October 2031, meaning the bulk of the membership put in place this week will remain unchanged for the full five years.

The appointments were signed off on 4 November 2026, four days after the terms of the eleven new members had already begun, and two days before publication in the gazette.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 89 of 6 November 2026, appointments section, “Appointments to the Valuation Tribunal” (official reference: G-8).