Commercial Rates should be Reviewed - Kelly

Cllr Anthony Kelly has said that now it the time to begin the process of reviewing commercial rates across the state.  The Sinn Féin Councillor insisted that businesses should pay rates based on the services provided by the state and that the rates should be reflective of the size and scale of the particular business.

"Commercial rates are strangling small businesses across this state," Cllr Kelly said.  "Rates have increased by 47% in the last ten years, well in excess of inflation and certainly not in line with increases in the provision of state services."

"In the last few years businesses have seen an enormous fall off in revenue.  There has been no fall off in the price of rates however.  Instead we have seen outlandish rates demanded in an effort to plug the gap in the cutting of government funding for local authority services."

"The process of reviewing commercial rates state-wide would be time consuming and would have to be carried out by local authorities under the guide of the Department of the Environment.  Minister Phil Hogan has been busy pushing taxes and cutting local councils over the past year.  Maybe he could now act in the welfare of struggling small businesses with the same zealousness."