Midleton Chamber of Commerce says payouts to get businesses back on their feet after Storm Babet have only helped some businesses.
Close to 3.5 million euro has been paid out under the Government's scheme which was set up after floods devastated shops and restaurants in October of last year.
Some businesses reopened for the Christmas period but have now closed to refurbish while others haven’t been able to reopen since the floods.
Speaking to RedFM News, Colette Barry from Midleton Chamber of Commerce says businesses who didn’t qualify for the Government scheme are struggling:
"It was enough for a lot of businesses, but not all. Some businesses didn't get the payment because they had flood cover with high excess fees, so that's a massive issue for those businesses."
Business owners in Midleton say storm payments can only do so much.
Sinead Morrisey who owns Bertelli Menswear in Midleton says the flood payment isn’t enough to put in waterproof measures.
Sinead says she’s afraid to refurbish her shop in case it floods again:
"Personally, I don't think it's enough, we're being asked to waterproof our businesses, and the cost of that is extortinate its way more than €100,000 to waterproof a shop so that money wasn't enough."
