Newry Chamber CEO, Michael Savage has welcomed the announcement from the Finance Minister, John O’Dowd MLA, confirming that he has paused Reval 2026.
Michael Savage, CEO of Newry Chamber commented:
“This is positive step by the Minister who has clearly heard the chorus of calls from all business organisations including Newry Chamber, not to proceed with these punitive and unfair proposals which threatened to decimate the hospitality sector.”
“The Minister has said he is in listening mode, so he needs to use the time he has now made available to listen to the real concerns across all business sectors which are all feeling the strain of increased operating costs and diminishing margins.”
“We will be writing to the Minister seeking clarity on the next steps and we will feed the views of our members, particularly those in the hospitality sector into any consultation process in the coming weeks.”
“The decision does bring some short-term relief but with that comes uncertainty so we need new thinking on rates and how we fund our public services in NI and the Executive needs to work with business and industry to develop bespoke solutions for this region that encourage competitive economic growth and acknowledge the serious challenges businesses are facing.”