11% of business premises are lying vacant

Almost 24,000 commercial units are vacant out of a total of about 226,500 business premises across the country.

A study on empty business units conducted by GeoDirectory found there were 23,384 unoccupied commercial spaces across the Republic — a figure which equates to a national vacancy rate of 11%.

It is the first time that the company, which was established by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland, has examined vacancy rates in commercial properties.