New Working Group on Commercial Rents to address needs of hard pressed retailers
A new Working Group on Commercial Rents has been established in response to a motion placed before a meeting of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting, according to local Fianna Fáil TD Niall Blaney. 05/03/10“A motion was placed before a meeting of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party about the need to address the issue of commercial rates around the country.”
“This is a very pressing issue right now particularly. Many retailers are finding their rents going out of control, and unfortunately some are finding that they are being pushed out of business.”
“The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern TD is responsible for this area and he brought a provision into law that barred the upward only commercial rent review clause that resulted in hardship for many business owners.”
“While this was a welcome move it did not have any effect on current leases and only applied to newly signed leases.”
“As a result those who signed leases in recent years had no respite.”
“Following the motion to the Parliamentary Party meeting, Minister Ahern TD confirmed that he is establishing a new Working Group to report to him on the issue of commercial rents and the difficulties being faced by business tenants.”
“The Working Group will invite all of the relevant stakeholders to submit their views and I would encourage everyone who can to take part in the process.”
“Retailers and other commercial business owners form the heart of any town or village. They are a vital source of local employment and an important part of the local economy so we need to come up with practical measures to support them. I am hopeful that this Working Group will be able to establish some ways of assisting the sector,” concluded Niall Blaney TD.
