Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It needs to be stated that some local authorities are better than others. I am from Waterford. When I was on the council a few years ago there were incentives by Waterford City Council to try to encourage new businesses. It was quite constrained but there were some rates holidays for specific areas. For the first year, there might have been a 12-month holiday, the second, six months and then something for the third year. Some local authorities have tried to do that. It is interesting to note that there is so much conversation about rates under the cost of doing business. A person can look at his or her electricity bill and try to shop around for a slightly better rate or manage electricity use in the store or a person can try to negotiate a better price with whoever is collecting the rubbish. However, with the rates, the bill comes in and that is it. That is the issue I hear from people. People can try to reduce other costs but they feel that they are trying to pay the rates bill but are not really getting anything back for it. We have been hearing that through and through. When I was in business, I felt the same.