Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There must be an income element to the rates - that is Sinn Féin policy. One of the problems small businesses are having is that if a premises is vacant for a period and a business takes it over, the rates carry over. The Minister often talks about the North and I am delighted he is starting to make comparisons between the two parts of Ireland. In the North, the rates are related to the business itself. Unpaid rates from a previous business do not carry over to a new start-up, although they do in this State. That causes a lot of problems. Also, it does not make sense to have the euro shop paying the same per square foot as Allied Irish Banks.

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