Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Businesses in great towns like Killarney and Killorglin are suffering a great deal at present as a result of the increase in the minimum wage and high energy costs. Why anyone would think that this is a good time to re-rate buildings, I will never understand. The rates on some premises have doubled. The input costs are so enormous that business owners are literally closing their doors. Many of these businesses are in prime locations on Main Street, College Street and New Street in Killarney. Cafes and restaurants in Killarney and Killorglin are closing. I compliment the Government on one thing. Many of the businesses in question would not have survived until now were it not for what the Government did during the pandemic. I thank the it for that. The Government kept the doors of those businesses open. I ask that the Government do what it did previously, namely, stand up for small businesses and for the people who are creating jobs for themselves and others. I beg the Government to do all it can to allow these people to keep their doors open.

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