Minister McGraths meets Castlebar Chamber
Castlebar Chamber Welcomes Minister Michael McGrath
Senator Lisa Chamber facilitated a meeting today for Castlebar Chamber Council and members to have a private meeting with Minister Michael McGrath Breaffy House Resort.
On the agenda was the challenges of doing business with the increase cost of minimum wage, sick pay and holiday pay putting excess pressure on the cost of doing business in addition to transport and insurance costs. “It is making our businesses uncompetitive with the rising cost”, Anne Conlon President said. She had 3 requests for the Minister:
- Significantly reduced employers’ PRSI
- Review the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% for hospitality?
- Stop/pause the increase in excise duty
Ms Conlon’s second point was Infrastructure and mobility.
It is a well-known fact that the planning process for starting a business or making a change is very challenging with all the red tape. We hosted the Estonia Ambassador in January with Castlebar Chamber members representing Construction, QS, and auctioneers. Estonia is the leader of wooden frame houses with a turnover of 5 billion. During our meeting, they informed us they had the capacity to deliver huge volumes of houses however, the red tape is the main challenge. The West is not well served for electric vehicles, the road network between our towns and the capital and the 3 main ports are not sufficient. I have 3 asks:
- Rail network – western rail, Ballina N5 road, N17 and Longford road be upgraded.
- Knock Airport was zoned in May 2017 as an SDZ with the potential for 4000 jobs but has yet to be I ask you, Minister, to take action immediately on this.
- Dublin airport is capped at 32m passengers yearly. With 3 American companies in Castlebar, number in Westport, Ballina and Claremorris, I ask you, Minister, to raise this to 40m to ensure the flexibility of our American and future investments and have no fear in travelling our country and particularly our county.
Anne’s final points to Minister McGrath she said, “Mayo is a county ready for more investment from the international market. I want you to remember when decisions are made, Castlebar and all the main towns in Mayo are open for business.’
The meeting concluded with the Minister being presented with the Castlebar chamber token in appreciation and welcome to Castlebar.
