The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland has called on business and employers group IBEC to turn words into action by raising the issue of Local Government Funding on behalf of business during the upcoming second round of the Sustaining Progress pay talks.
CCI made the call following an IBEC statement in which it criticised the business community's rising share of the cost of funding Local Government.
IBEC said that a business operating out of Dublin pays a landfill charge of €225 per tonne of waste while the equivalent cost for a Donegal based business is €125 per tonne.
IBEC also said that 1,000 gallons of water will cost a business €7.95 in Longford while a business based in Sligo will pay €2.49. New premises being built in the Dublin City region attract a development levy of €110 per square metre while the same development in Waterford is charged €12 per square metre, it added.
IBEC said these inconsistencies must be addressed and called on Environment Minister Martin Cullen to carry out an urgent review of Local Government Funding. Local Authorities currently spend €7 billion per annum.
IBEC said the mechanism by which this sum is raised is 'inefficient, inequitable and unsustainable in the context of a modern economy'.
'CCI has been campaigning on this issue for over a decade,' said CCI Chief Executive John Dunne said, adding that Local Authority funding as it now stands is completely unsustainable.
'We're hopeful that, following its statement, IBEC will take a firm position on the issue on behalf of business during the upcoming pay talks, particularly in regard to the financing of the local government elements of the public sector pay agreement,' he said.
