Erris Chamber of Commerce has called for commercial rates to be suspended for 12 months for businesses affected by covid 19.
Chairperson of Erris Chamber, Damien Langan said that: "A three month break in commercial rates is not sufficient. Businesses, especially those that have had to close at this time should not have to pay rates for 12 months.
"Yes this will put a lot of pressure on our county councils but the government must ensure that local authorities are well funded during this crisis."
The Belmullet based Erris Chamber has also called for a raft of other measures to protect businesses during this crisis. They said: "Among those are, that banks suspend all business bank charges immediately for businesses affected by this crisis. We bailed them out in their time of need, it is now our time of need and it’s imperative that they return the favour.
"Also for businesses that have closed or have had to reduce hours, we are looking for subsidised postage rates to help with online shopping and the sending out of packages. I’m not talking about cutting rates for the likes of amazon but for the small local businesses trying to stay alive at the moment.
"The extent of the crisis we are facing is still uncertain and businesses have no idea when normal trading conditions will resume. Businesses in Belmullet like the rest of the country have put in place a number of precautions for the safety of our customers & staff and we would ask that people would strictly follow these and practice social distancing. We all need to take this very seriously."
