Outrage over proposed sandwich board tax
The decision by Dublin City Council to charge businesses more than €600 to display sandwich boards outside their bsinesses has been condemned by the Restaurants Association of Ireland
Print30 July 2019
So-called sandwich boards have long been a common sight on streets of Dublin and elswhere. Chalk or print, they promote the adjacent business with promoted special offers, or sometimes just with witty messages to entertain passers-by.
Well that may be all about to change. Dublin City Council, in all of its infinite wisdom, has decided to licence and tax businesses for these tiny boards. From now on, if you want to have that witty message outside your premises, it’s going to cost you €630.
The bizarre and churlish decision comes just at the time when it has emerged that the DCC collected more than €600,000 in “sunshine tax” from local businesses, which is a charge for a business (usujally a cafe or restaurant) that wants to have tables and chairs outside for customers. €614,074.82, to be precise. This figure is more than €50,000 higher than the 2017 total, and has been growing annually.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland has called Dublin City Council’s proposed plans “shockingly excessive” and a “money-grabbing exercise”. The proposal to charge for a sandwich board licence is unnecessary and has happened without any consultation from businesses, the association said.
Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association, called it a shockingly excessive decision by Dublin City Council. “It has come without any consultation with businesses,” Cummins said. “While the Restaurants Association welcomes the regulation of street furniture, this move will disproportionately affect small businesses, who cannot afford a fee of this size. The proposal is clearly a money grabbing exercise, building on the Dublin City Council’s sunshine-tax on outdoor tables and chairs.”
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