Carlow County Council – Covid 19 Update – Business Supports / Rates
Carlow County Council is continually monitoring the situation in relation to the Coronavirus and adhering to the latest advice from the HSE and Government. A statement in respect of supporting the business community was released by the Department of Housing Planning & Local Government on Friday 20th March 2020 and Carlow County Council wish to confirm:
Collection of Rates
The following statement was released on Friday (20th March 2020) by Central Government in relation to the payment of 2020 commercial rates. For clarity commercial rates payable in 2020 have not been reduced or waived . Payment is deferred for certain businesses most impacted e.g. retail (excluding supermarkets), hospitality, leisure and childcare until the end of May 2020.
“The Government has today (20 March, 2020) agreed with local authorities that they should agree to defer rates payments due from the most immediately impacted businesses - primarily in the retail, hospitality, leisure and childcare sectors, for three months, until end-May”
Businesses in these categories should contact the Council’s Income Department to make the necessary arrangements. Contact phone: 059-9172487
E-mail: incomedept@carlowcoco.ie
Supports for the Business Community
Carlow County Council understand the challenges that face our business community and understand while certain businesses have been significantly impacted with temporary closure , other businesses have had challenges around supply chain , access to labour and other issues during this time. This is an unprecedented economic challenge for our business community and we are committed to working with the business community and our wider stakeholders to support this situation which in our view will require a local , regional and National approach.
Carlow County Council has been in contact and met with Enterprise Ireland and IDA in the past two weeks and continue to engage with the enterprise agencies in respect of the support packages available for the business community during this time. These packages are evolving and members of the business community are encouraged to contact the Local Enterprise Office team on 059-9179283 or e-mail enterprise@carlococo.ie and an advisor will be appointed to you to support you to avail of these opportunities. To date on top of the normal supports provided by the Local Enterprise Office these have included access to increased micro finance loan funding , business continuity supports. Further supports are in development as announced by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
Comment
Kathleen Holohan , Chief Executive of Carlow County Council said “As Chief Executive of Carlow County Council , I know we as a local authority have a responsibility to support the three communities in County Carlow during this National Challenge , “our citizen community, our business community and the public sector community which have always worked together to make County Carlow a great place to live , work , visit and play and I know during this challenge we will see many examples of each going above and beyond to support each other”. In respect of the business community we are committed to working with the community through this challenge in partnership with National Government , the enterprise agencies and representative bodies to ensure ongoing support to achieve sustainability of the sector once the Covid-19 challenge has been addressed”.
