ISME want churches to pay rates

FARMERS, churches, state buildings and B&Bs should pay the same local authority rates and water charges as businesses, according to the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association.

ISME chief executive Mark Fielding has accused local authorities of being “lazy and inefficient” in repeatedly raising the commercial rates, which have jumped by 47% over the past 10 years, twice the rate of inflation.

This action is jeopardising jobs in indigenous businesses, argues ISME, who are demanding that local authorities spread their net further to share the burden of funding local authority services in a more “equitable” manner.