ICMSA call for abolition of levy

The ICMSA have called on those local authorities currently imposing a levy on agricultural buildings in their development contribution schemes to abolish that system.

Rural Development Committee chairperson Tommy Cooke said it was unfair and unacceptable to have a charge on agricultural buildings in some counties and not in others. An ICMSA survey showed in some counties there could be a charge of up to €20 per square metre on agricultural buildings of an area greater than 200 square metres.

“These charges are a stealth charge acting as a brake to expansion and development on farms and they must be abolished.”