Street traders in Dublin are facing increases of up to almost 600% in their licence fees as councillors draft new by-laws.
All fees are set to rise by at least 50%, but fees to sell flowers are facing the stiffest increases.
The annual licence fee to sell flowers on Middle Abbey Street will rise by 400%, from €150 to €750. It will double to €2,000 from €1,000 on Chatam Street, while a new spot on Grafton Street will cost €8,000.
Fees for those outside Glasnevin and Mount Jerome cemeteries will rise from €150 to €1000 a year.
Traders on Moore Street face a 50% rise in their licence fee, while those around the Grafton Street area face an average of 100% increase.
The traders are angry at the proposed rises as they say they are finding it harder to make sales during the and that the proposed fees do not represent a fair levy, particularly as they already pay rates and waste management charges.
For its part, Dublin City Council says it wants to protect street trading in Dublin and says the new fees better reflect European averages and offer a fairer reflection of market value and usage.
It has surveyed licence fees in other European capital cities and have found that Dublin's traders are being charged a relatively low fee.
The new by-laws also include a number of new trading plots across the city as the Council strives to reinvigorate less-populated areas of the city.
There are plans to include new sites where traders selling second-hand books, antiques and artwork would be encouraged.
The Council says street-trading is an important part of city life which it is anxious to protect.
Dublin City Council received over 200 submissions during the public consultation period on the draft by-laws.
A sub-committee of the Council will meet at City Hall on Monday to discuss and decide on those submissions.
That sub-committee will then issue a report on the matter to a Strategic Policy Committee which in turn will present the final Proposed Bye-laws to the Full Council for a vote at its March meeting.
If the fees are approved, they will then be signed into law and as each trader's licence comes up for renewal, they will have to pay the new fee.
