Series of tweaks to county budget
Businesses in county Cork will not face a hike in rates next year thanks to a series of “tweaks” amended into the 2026 budget.
Energy was waning by the end of Monday’s lengthy Budget meeting at County Hall which saw the passing of a €526 million budget by Cork County Council, a €14 million increase on the previous budget.
The collective fatigue within the chamber was demonstrated when Independent Cllr Alan Colemen answered “for!” rather than “anseo!” during a roll call before voting had started. When asked again if he was present in the chamber, he replied, “I’m here all night!”.
The initial draft proposed by the executive included a 3% increase to annual rate valuation (AVR) for businesses in a budget with a strong focus on frontline services such as roads maintenance, housing maintenance, library operations, and public conveniences.
However, Fine Gael party leader for the county, Cllr Gearoid Murphy swiftly proposed a suite of 16 tweaks that he said would allow the council “to achieve a balanced budget while keeping rates at the same level as this year”.
He said: “We recognise the important contributions made by businesses to the county.
“We also accept that there are a number of challenges being faced by businesses this year including the introduction of auto enrolment for pensions and the increase to the minimum wage,” he added.
The sentiment to refuse any rate hike for businesses was shared across all parties in the chamber.
Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty said that although the services provided by the council need to be improved upon, it can't be at the cost of running a local business.
Independent Cllr Alan Coleman said businesses and SMEs are under a lot of pressure and are “not getting a lot of help nationally”.
He said: “The heavy burden of regulation that's put on small business is just crippling.
“Now is not the time to put a further burden on the rate payer in Cork county.”
Independent Ireland Cllr Danny Collins, who runs a pub in West Cork, said an increase in rates would be hitting the same people hit by the increase in Local Property Tax passed in the summer.
He said: “If I vote for an increase of rates today, I might as well hop in my van outside, head to Cork Airport, and fly out to Spain or somewhere I wouldn't be found because I would not get a welcome back to Bantry or any part of West Cork.
“It's everything - up, up, up - and that's why we have doors closing all over our county.”
Cllr Ann Bambury of Social Democrats complimented what she describes as a “progressive budget” but said she couldn’t support the 3% hike and called on central Government to “step up and provide proper inflation-aligned funding to local authorities”.
Labour Cllr Cathal Rassmussen and Sinn Féin’s Eoghan Fahey shared similar sentiments to their counterparts.
After two recesses, both of which went well over time, councillors voted 34 to 17 in favour of Cllr Murphy’s amendment and the budget was passed.
The Council’s Capital Programme 2026–2028 was also presented on Monday.
The Capital Programme was developed with the intent of meeting the objectives, as adopted by Cork County Council, of the Corporate Plan 2025–2029, County Development Plan (CDP) and Local Economic and Community Plan (LECP).
The programme represents an investment in capital infrastructure of €1.42 billion over three years with 39% of this on housing and 32% on roads.