DublinTown Response To New Sandwich Board Charges

Dublin City Council has announced new charges will come into effect from the September 1st for any business displaying a sandwich board

They intend to charge a business €630 per sandwich/A-board which DublinTown believes is excessive, it is not clear how this extremely high figure was arrived at and is in addition to the excessive charges for outdoor seating that are already paid by many businesses.

While there is a clear benefit to reducing on-street clutter to create a positive pedestrian environment we feel that the responsibility and significant cost for this is being laid at the feet of city businesses and due responsibility is not being taken by Dublin City Council who ultimately have responsibility for street signage and poles, paving and footpaths and the removal of abandoned bicycles. Much of the street clutter is generated by Dublin City Council, but is not being addressed by them.

DublinTown has on several occasions suggested ways in which, through collaborative work between DCC and local businesses costs could be lowered while also removing clutter and better managing outdoor seating areas but these have not been adopted. We have advised the Council that we and our members believe that the business community is seen as an easy target by the Council.

DublinTown CEO, Richard Guiney, has been interviewed about these new charges on several radio stations in the last two days. For more listen here.

Further information on how to apply for a sandwich board licence is available at Dublin City Council’s website.