Business Supports
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-28
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Rose Conway-Walsh (SF), Mayo

What the Government is doing is not working because vacancy rates in many towns are persistently high or rising, particularly outside the major urban areas. According to the GeoDirectory commercial buildings report prepared by EY in February, the national commercial vacancy rate in Ireland increased to 14.6% by the end of 2025. This is the highest rate recorded by GeoDirectory since it began tracking commercial vacancy data in 2013. In total, there were 30,687 vacant commercial units across the country in the fourth quarter of 2025. If what the Minister has outlined was working, this would not be the case. Fourteen counties experienced an increase in vacancy rates, with Sligo recording the highest commercial vacancy rate. Dereliction is not just an aesthetic issue. It affects the local economy and tourism and the existing supports clearly are not working.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-28