Minister O’Brien continues support to restaurants and cafés
- Published on: 26 May 2022
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, has signed and published regulations which provide for the waiving of the section 254 street furniture license fees for the remainder of 2022 for tables and chairs associated with outdoor dining.
The introduction of this temporary removal of street furniture licence fees for ‘tables and chairs outside a hotel, restaurant, public house or other establishment where food is sold for consumption on the premises’ is a repeat of last year’s initiative and will assist the hospitality sector in 2022 by reducing the cost for maintaining outdoor dining on public roads.
Commenting Minister O’Brien said:
“The government is committed to continue supporting the hospitality sector which bore the brunt of measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years.
"We know that the summer months will provide an opportunity to the hospitality sector to increase the vibrancy of areas through the controlled use of outdoor dining on public roads. Therefore, these regulations will repeat last year’s waiver and offer some respite to businesses who otherwise would pay significant street furniture licence fees. There is no fee for awnings, canopies and heaters also as we have exempted them from planning on a permanent basis.”