Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In regard to issue of commercial rates as referred to by Deputy Boyd Barrett, there are three Deputies in the Chamber, Deputies Quinlivan, Neville and I, who were members of the Limerick local authority which brought in an incentivised scheme to try to mitigate the rates burden on new businesses. My own personal view is that that only tinkered around the edges of the issue.

I refer the Minister to the preliminary census figures released in the last number of days. One of the most striking statistics is that there are almost 200,000 vacant dwelling units around the country. In Limerick, there are 8,500 vacant dwelling units, many of which are accommodation units above shops in our towns and villages. The core has been hollowed out of our small towns and villages consistently over the last number of years. What I am trying to impress on the Minister is the need for a bigger plan such that we are not just tinkering around with the commercial rates issue.

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