Council’s €10m rates loss as 1,500 business go bust in four years

Date Published: 12-Jan-2011

A grim indication of the amount of businesses across County Galway that have closed down during the recession is indicated by the fact that by the end of 2011, the local authority will have written off a whopping €10 million in commercial rates over the past four years.

It means that during that period almost 1,500 businesses have closed down across the county with the retail sector being the hardest hit.

And it comes in a week that has already seen further bad news on the business front with the closure of the two N17 Electrical Superstore outlets in Galway City and Milltown and the loss of around 40 jobs. Staff arrived to work last Monday morning to find the premises in Milltown and in Terryland Retail Park closed.

There has already been a number of casulaties in the licenced trade since the end of the festive season – and up to a dozen pubs across Galway city and county are set to close within the next couple of weeks.

Uncertainty has also been expressed about the finances of the well-known Salthill Hotel by company auditors, who warned it will need access to continued support from its sister companies if it is to remain a ‘going concern’. However, the owner of the hotel said there is “no immediate threat” to the hotel, the 110 jobs there, or any of his other companies.

On the overall picture, Galway County Council officials say that, on average, businesses pay around €7,000 in commercial rates and the fact that they have to write off €10 million since the beginning of 2008 was a reflection of the number of businesses that closed.

It has been learned by The Connacht Tribune that in 2008 and 2009, more than €5 million in commercial rates was written off by Galway County Council because of the number of businesses that closed down during that period.

It is understood that another €5 million plus will be written off for the period of 2010 and 2011 as being uncollectable – again, due to the fact that businesses have gone to the wall.

See full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.