Pubs and restaurants are set for another bumper summer of al fresco eating and drinking as all fees for outdoor furniture will be waived again this summer.
Local Government Minister Darragh O’Brien will be in the Leinster House committee rooms today to update TDs and Senators of the tourism committee on his plans.
It normally costs a bar or restaurant €125 in local council fees for every table they wish to put outside their premises.
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However, with the hospitality sector on its knees during Covid and in its aftermath, Mr O’Brien scrapped the fees for the summers of 2021 and 2022.
And now, in a major boost for publicans and restaurateurs, Mr O’Brien is set to make life easier for serving outdoors again this year.
He will be bringing the planning exemption for street furniture through the Oireachtas along with similar exemptions for bus stop infrastructure and new reverse vending machines.
They will be installed as part of an initiative to let people return bottles and cans to centrally-located machines and get money or vouchers back.
Mr O’Brien is expected to say: “The three Exempted Development Regulations propose to amend provisions in the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (the Principal Regulations) concerning development that is exempt from the requirement to obtain planning permission. This concerns the installation of reverse vending machines, bus poles and street furniture. The Street furniture regulation proposes to waive the fee for tables and chairs for outdoor dining, similar to the waiver approved in previous years.
“Under the Planning Acts, each House of the Oireachtas is required to approve draft Planning Regulations relating to exempted development and street furniture fees by way of positive resolution before they can be made by me, as Minister. The consideration of the draft Regulations by the Committee here today is part of that approval process.
The Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2023 – propose to waive the section 254 street furniture licence fee of €125 per table for the remainder of 2023 for tables and chairs associated with outdoor dining. This is a repeat of the waiver applied in 2021 and 2022 to assist in reducing the cost burden for hotels, restaurants, public houses and other establishments where food is sold for consumption.
“We all recognise that businesses are facing increasing pressures in the current economic climate and this street furniture licence fee waiver is in acknowledgement of the difficulties faced by the hospitality sector.”
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