Finance Minister urged to tackle vacant commercial property issue in Clonmel

Finance Minister Paschal Donohue took to the road to explain his €11 billion Budget 2023 package in Clonmel.

It was his first visit outside of Dublin since he unveiled the Budget to the country.
A good crowd turned up at Hotel Minella to an event hosted by Senator Garret Ahearn to ask questions of Minister Donohue.

After outlining the measures in his budget and explaining the background behind it, Minister Donohue fielded a wide range of questions from the engaged audience.

Local businessmen, farming organisation representatives and elected representatives were among those that attended.
People also spoke personally about their own family situation, in particular highlighting the struggle to put children through college to be then faced with the situation of them being unable to find or afford accommodation in Dublin or other major cities, despite having secured good jobs.

Issues surrounding the economy specific to Clonmel were raised with the number of vacant commercial premises in the town brought to Minister Donohue’s attention.

The issue led to a row at a recent meeting of Clonmel Borough District when public representatives clashed over the optics of having so many vacant commercial premises in the town.
Minister Donohue was asked why the Budget, which addressed vacant homes, did not contain incentives to address the issue of vacant commercial premises.

Senator Garret Ahearn said he canvassed Minister Donohue on the matter during his visit.
“The amount of vacant business properties is a serious problem for Clonmel and other rural towns across Tipperary. I have spoken to the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise and Trade Leo Varadkar on what measures could be introduced to resolve this issue. Town centres are so important to the image of a region. We must ensure that as many units as possible are open or available to occupy. One of the solutions could be the overhaul of commercial rates which was suggested in 2019. As spokesperson for Enterprise and Trade in the Seanad I will work with both ministers to prioritise this issue,” he said.

Cllr Michael Murphy told Minister Donohue that there were 60 retail units in O’Connell Street in Clonmel and 20 of those were vacant.

He asked Minister Donohue about legislation that was discussed by Government in 2019. It was designed to enable local authorities take steps to tackle such problems if the need existed in that specific area and it would not have to be introduced on a countrywide basis.

Planning decision on major housing development for Cahir is due this week

Minister Donohue said that taxation measures that could respond to that issue were not implemented as it would mean they would have to be countrywide and that would not be appropriate as each area had their own specific issues that did not apply to other areas.

Cllr John Fitzgerald said that there should be incentives to encourage the regeneration of towns around the country and revitalisation of towns would follow.
Pat Carroll, IFA South Tipperary, raised the levy on concrete and said it would have a detrimental effect not only on farmers thinking of capital investment but all farmers who had to meet such costs in the ongoing work required in the maintenance of farms.