Call to quickly resolve rents issue

A QUICK resolution by Government on the issue of upward-only rent reviews is vital for the retention of jobs and renewed movement in the commercial property market, it was claimed yesterday.

Retail industry representative body, Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) said that thousands of retail jobs are at risk until the Government fully enacts the proposals. The organisation has estimated, in addition to the 40,000 retail-related jobs that have already been lost since 2008, a further 40,000 positions are currently under threat.

“While it’s encouraging to see that the Government is making progress on this vital piece of reforming legislation, there’s no time to waste as thousands more retail jobs will be lost if the bill is not fully enacted during the autumn,” according to REI chief executive David Fitzsimons.