Coronavirus hits Dublin business footfall with retail and hospitality most affected

Dublin Town calls for VAT to be kept at lowest levels possible to assist businesses.

Dublin city retail and hospitality businesses are experiencing a significant decrease in footfall as a result of the coronavirus.

Footfall in Dublin has declined by 5.6% in 2020 as compared to 2019 according to Dublin Town, a Dublin city business representative group.

Streets with a high proportion of restaurants and pubs, including South William Street saw the greatest decrease.

The Dublin business group have attributed the decline in trade to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases announced in Ireland.

They expect a further decrease as Dublin-based employees increasingly work from home under company instruction to limit Covid-19 spread.

A number of companies like Google have instructed their employees

Read More:

In response, Dublin Town called for a number of government measures to assist Dublin city businesses including a suspension of employer's PRSI reduction and a state subsidy for local authority charges.

They have also argued for VAT to be reduced to the lowest levels possible according to EU directives for the duration of the crisis.

Employing 35,000 people and contributing €1.75bn to the national economy, DublinTown believes it is in the national interest to assist these businesses.

The group supports the Government's approach to containing the spread of Covid-19 and hopes the "radical steps" will support the health service as necessary.