Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will open it up to the floor. Who would like to kick off with a few questions? Okay, I will start. Regarding commercial rates, I, and I am sure all my other colleagues, hear quite a lot from people with small businesses about the effect of commercial rates. A business just outside Dungarvan has been operating for the past 30 years and most of its sales relate to a small shop and petrol sales.

In the past five years, two newer businesses have opened up close by. I will not mention their names. They would be ones that we would see popping up all over Ireland. They are very competitive and offer a lot of facilities like rest areas for large trucks and lorries, toilet facilities, areas where people can eat or have access to WiFi and an ATM. This person's rates are set even though her level of turnover has dropped quite significantly. She has the worry of trying to meet the commercial rates even though her turnover has gone down so much and the fact that when she was rated, her turnover was much higher. Would any of the witnesses like to comment on that? Do they hear many stories like this?