Traders in the city centre have reacted angrily to an increase to commercial rates.
The City Council announced on Tuesday that rates would increase by 3.8% to allow them to maintain and enhance services.
It’s the first major increase in commercial rates in years and the Council says rates make up almost 40% of the city’s total income, and have increased by just 1.3% over the past 13 years.
Cork Chamber has warned the increase will ultimately impact consumer demand and have called for an overhaul of government funding for local authorities.
These traders in the city told RedFM News how they are feeling about the increase:
"I would have been sorry to say to myself the way the city has gotten in the last few years, we should be looking for a reduction rather than an increase."
"We are practically looking at heating over the door or lighting in the window, like we're turning off our display lights to try and save a few bob on energy. We're looking at almost a 30% increase this year and this on top of it, it's it's killing. It's absolutely a killer like devastated, disappointed. We don't want to be passing on any increases or anything like that to our customers. Just very, very disappointed."
