All Members hold constituency meetings with constituents and issues that affect them are presented to us. In the case of Galway East, one issue that has repeatedly come to the attention of my office is the re-evaluation of commercial rates. I refer to two small businesses, one a nail manicure outlet and another a hair salon, that had commercial rates heretofore of €600. That has risen to €1,448, which is a 200% increase. One of the liveliest and busy but well run filling stations in Headford, County Galway provides better access and all the stuff that goes with having the best possible business from a safety point of view. Some of these measures were forced on the owners by the council and their commercial rates went from €8,900 to €52,000, which is a 484% increase. I was absolutely astonished when those figures came to me because I did not think that, regardless of how the old system was, there could be that much of an incremental increase. While I do not like to hear it, I hear from the owners of smaller businesses such as hair salons that they will not continue and they will instead operate in their own homes. That is what makes me sit up. We are all pleading for better support for businesses, and we need to support our businesses because that is what makes Ireland, in particular rural Ireland, tick. I am not sure what measures the Government can introduce. We are not a basket case in Galway East but commercial rates are a major issue for many small businesses. I am shining a spotlight on this today. We need to focus on how the valuation is done. Is it done based on ground space or turnover? Some businesses use a premises for storage but there is no value in storage. What is required is to examine those businesses that are trading and have reason to believe they would be liable for commercial rates. The ones I just mentioned are just a snapshot. There are many more like that. I am trying to have a conversation on how that can be managed going forward.

Sentiment score: 0.13

I would be the first to acknowledge Government supports for businesses such as those we have spoken about. I have suggested for quite some time that our local authority, Galway County Council, is chronically underfunded. As a consequence, our poor councillors have had to make that ultimate bad decision. The consequences of that have been felt because businesspeople do not want to condemn, criticise or complain. They are in the business of making money, if they can, employing staff and ensuring that they are doing things in a prudent rather than a greedy way. I honestly believe that in the case of the filling station in Headford, which saw an increase from €8,900 to €52,000, some consideration should be given to the fact that the business was forced to do things by the local authority in terms of car parking and has paid a big penalty for doing that.

Sentiment score: -0.17