All photos: Arthur Kinahan
Una McGoey, President of Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, and several Council members met with Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Neale Richmond TD, at a public meeting in the Creative Spark Downtown Hub last Thursday.
Una welcomed the Minister and thanked him for the opportunity to meet. She confirmed that the Budget changes had proved a success in relation to sales of Shop Local vouchers for 2022. She also detailed the Chamber position on the Northern Ireland Protocol, explaining that it was clear that businesses in Dundalk and Newry were doing more business than ever. Therefore, if the east west arrangements needed adjustment, the North South position needed to be left alone.
The Minister gave assurance that the North South position would not change. Paddy Malone PRO raised concerns over a number of problems with the Temporary Business Energy Support scheme. He pointed out that the timeline for applying for the first grant was too tight, with details only released in December and closed off in January.
He also stated that the response time from Revenue on queries was unacceptable and finally that at 121 pages the scheme as set up was administratively demanding. The Chamber's PRO pointed out that this explained why the take up was lower than the Minister for Finance expected.
Mr Malone also invited all present to attend the seventh post Brexit conference on the morning of 8 March, in conjunction with Newry Chamber in the Carrickdale Hotel.
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