Internet giants such as Amazon are being challenged to pull their weight and pay their fair share. SDLP Newry & Armagh MLA has articulated his frustration that local and family owned businesses are buckling under the pressure of rising rates and overheads, while internet giants like Amazon continue to dodge their responsibility to their customers’ communities.
The Newry & Armagh Assembly Member has tabled a number of questions to Executive Ministers, seeking confirmation on the total value of rates paid by companies like Amazon, as well as evidence on the burden these companies place on the environment and local services, such as recycling, waste management and the overall size of their carbon footprint.
Newry & Armagh MLA Justin McNulty said: “I find it deeply frustrating that, at a time when so many local and family owned businesses are struggling to keep their head above water, massive internet retailers like Amazon seem to escape liability for paying rates, despite the fact that they generate enormous amounts of waste to be processed in facilities run by our local councils.
“It is also frustrating that their huge fleets of vehicles, with their massive carbon footprint, deliver millions of pounds of goods across our communities every year, undercutting local retailers, yet escaping the same rates burden as local and family run businesses.
“I am a believer in consumer choice and open competition, but I am also a firm believer in ensuring that there is a level playing field which ensures that small local businesses can fairly compete, and that massive corporations are paying into the communities that boost their profits.
“There needs to be meaningful reform of rates to bring it into the 21st Century, and there needs to be a joined up effort from all parties to secure this change. Businesses in our town centres cannot be shackled with burdens that big corporations are able to dodge. It’s unfair, it doesn’t make sense, and it needs to change.”
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