Commercial vacancy rates in Mayo highlight need to tackle regional imbalance

A Mayo Oireachtas member has called on the Department of Enterprise to urgently prepare a plan to address the imbalance in regional economic development in the eest compared to the rest of the country highlighted by a recent report on commercial vacancy rates.

Senator Chambers. a Fianna Fail candidate in the European Parliament elections in June, made the call in the Seanad today after the publication of the report from GeoDirectory and EY Economic Advisory Services that showed the vacancy rate of commercial buildings across Mayo was 17.4% in December 2023.

Commenting on the figures, Chambers said: “Commercial vacancy is on the rise nationally and this is worrying but the numbers west of the Shannon are even more concerning.

"Nationally, the average commercial vacancy rate at the end of 2023 was 14.3% – the highest it has been since the GeoDirectory surveys began in 2013.

“The report paints a clear picture of regional economic imbalance, with the lowest rates in the country in Meath (10.1%), Wexford (10.5%) and Cork (12.2%).

"In comparison, the vacancy rate of commercial buildings across Mayo stood at 17.4% in December 2023.

“Of the towns in Mayo analysed by the report, Ballina had the highest commercial vacancy rate at 23.5% while Westport had the lowest at 12.6%.

“The National Development Plan contains commitments to balance the regional development of the country and the government has also focused on the economic development of town centres, which is extremely important.

"However, the report shows that towns West of the Shannon are suffering, leading me to question whether we can reach our stated targets for the economic development of the West.

“The Department of Enterprise must think outside the box and evaluate the position of physical shop fronts. We have to encourage businesses to rent premises and we need to make it affordable, otherwise our city and town centres are at risk of long-term vacancy and dereliction, so there is a clear public interest argument to reducing the cost of renting commercial units.

“The department must urgently review this report and the data contained within it and come up with a properly resourced plan to address commercial vacancy in the West,” Chambers concluded.