Call for fairer commercial rates amid Wicklow tensions over funding

By Hugh O'Farrell Walsh, The Wicklow People

Two separate debates, one in the Dáil and one in Wicklow County Council chambers, have converged into one, unavoidable question: is Ireland’s local government funding model still fit for purpose?

The clash between Wicklow councillors and the council executive over the county’s capital programme, and the Dáil debate led by Deputy Malcolm Byrne on the future of commercial rates, both expose the same fault line.

Local authorities are being asked to deliver 21st century services using 19th century funding tools, and the strain is beginning to show.

In the Dáil, Deputy Byrne reminded the chamber that the commercial rates system dates back two centuries.

“In 1826, 200 years ago, King George IV decided to sign into law the government valuation of Ireland Act,” he said, noting that the system was designed for a world where physical premises defined economic activity.

Today, however, a business can generate millions in revenue from a laptop or a phone, while a bookshop in Gorey or Wicklow town pays rates based on the size of its floor. Deputy Byrne argued that this creates unfairness.

“They pay commercial rates… but they compete against the likes of Amazon… which does not pay any commercial rates because it does not have a main street presence.”

In response junior minister Frankie Feighan emphasised that Tailte Éireann independently determines valuations, but he conceded that many businesses feel the system is outdated.

“I have heard it myself on the ground… perhaps a lot more needs to be done because we are online now with Amazon. The main street needs every support it can get.”

Coming from a former retailer, this admission carried weight.

Wicklow councillors recently clashed with the council’s director of finance Brian Gleeson over the county’s capital programme, expressing frustration about project delays, funding gaps, and what they see as a lack of transparency in how priorities are set.

The underlying issue is the same one Deputy Byrne raised in the Dáil: local government is being asked to do more with a funding model that no longer reflects economic reality.

Wicklow’s capital programme, covering roads, housing, community facilities, active travel projects, and town‑centre improvements, depends heavily on commercial rates.

When those rates fall disproportionately on small, local businesses, councillors face a dilemma.

They want to support local enterprise, but they also need revenue to deliver the projects their communities expect. When the executive presents a capital plan constrained by limited funding, councillors push back, arguing that the county is being held back not by a lack of ambition but by a lack of resources.

This is where the two debates intersect. If commercial rates continue to be based primarily on floor space, councils like Wicklow will remain dependent on a shrinking pool of ratepayers.

As more commerce moves online, the burden on physical businesses grows heavier, and the funding base for local services becomes more fragile.

Deputy Byrne’s suggestion that rates could be linked to turnover, or that online retailers could be brought into the funding net, would broaden the revenue base.

Minister Feighan did not commit to such reforms, but his acknowledgement that “perhaps it is time to have that discussion again” suggests that the political appetite for change is growing.