Dublin Chamber has called for relief from commercial rates for businesses struggling with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Chamber, which represents 1,300 businesses in the Greater Dublin Area, said today that targeted measures are urgently needed to help companies in distress, and called on Government to commit to support Local Authorities in dealing with the temporary shortfall.

Director of Public and International Affairs Aebhric Mc Gibney said: “The business community is being massively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. As early as last week, over half of firms in the Greater Dublin Area were reporting a drop in revenue, with the food and hospitality and the retail and wholesale sectors particularly badly affected. There are certain kinds of business for which commercial rates are a significant portion of their cost base, and we need to see relief in this area if these businesses are to survive and to minimise job losses.”

Mr Mc Gibney said: “We have received a lot of stark feedback from our member companies over the past week, with many warning of present or imminent cash flow problems and the likelihood of large-scale job losses. To protect vulnerable companies and the livelihoods they support, we are calling on Government to implement a targeted relief from commercial rates for the duration of the isolation period.”