Council accused of ‘stealing from mouths of orphans’

Date Published: 19-Aug-2010

By Darragh McDonagh

GALWAY City Council is “stealing food from the mouths of orphans” by forcing charity shops to pay local authority rates, according to charity advocates.

Premises used for charitable purposes are exempt from paying rates according to the terms of the Valuation Act 2001. However, charity shops are considered to be commercial enterprises and are liable to pay the charges under the legislation.

Galway charities are seeking concessions from the local authority so that the beneficiaries of their work, such as orphans in Kenya, will not be made to suffer as a result of the requirement to pay rates.

The charity Dochas Nasamu operates Harambee Charity Shop on Newcastle Road to fund the work of an orphanage in Kenya that cares for children aged between two and 18, most of whose parents have died from AIDS.

Galway City Council has granted the charity reprieve from local authority rates in recent years but is now demanding the payment of more than €3,000 which volunteers say threatens the future of the operation.

“They are stealing food out of the mouths of orphans by demanding rates from charities,” said Nancy Coen of Dochas Nasamu.

“Credit where credit is due – they were very good for a few years, but I don’t know what we’re going to do now. That money – if we had it – could be used to feed and educate children, and education is the key to their freedom,” she said.

A spokesman for Galway City Council said that charity shops are liable to pay rates under the Valuation Act and, while concessions had been made in the past, this was no longer the case due to the current economic climate.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune