A local Senator has offered his support in relation to the Government's plan to waive outdoor dining fees for another year.
Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien is expected to sign off next week on regulations that will extend the waiver of street furniture fees for restaurants for another year.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Senator Gallagher explained that the €125-per-table fees were temporarily removed during the pandemic when indoor dining was banned and outdoor dining was the only option.
He believes the move will boost the tourism and hospitality industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.
He added that businesses will still need to apply for a street furniture licence from the local council :
"It's a development that I very much welcome to see continuing. It's been very, very successful and on a good day like today it's very nice to see people out having a coffee or a beer on our streets and it's an initiative that was brought in during COVID times and I'm glad to see government extending that and it's an issue, an area, that I would like to see further expanded because I think it brings a whole new, vibrant, feel-good feeling to our towns and villages".
