Mr. Adrian Cummins:

No. It is a compulsory tax based on a plebiscite in each local area. Some BIDs are small and are specifically spent on Christmas lights or a St. Patrick's Day parade, but Dublin has €4 million that is being spent. We would like to see greater transparency and for the scheme to come under freedom of information. It is outside of that, even though it is taxation.

On commercial rates and rents, rents are not a huge issue in our top ten. They would be between point number ten and five. The other issues that are more pressing at the moment are insurance, wage inflation, cost of inputs, etc. Commercial rates are not a major issue for us and nor are rents.

Revenue is quite blunt in that you must pay and if you do not pay, interest will be piled on. However, I welcome the warehouse tax measures for last year. Sense was brought to bear in that no interest was charged on the warehouse tax. There were businesses that were able to get repayment from one to ten years. The vast majority had a one- to five-year repayment. That was welcome, but if you do not make a payment on time, Revenue will take you out of the scheme. It is too blunt in that aspect.