The price of a finger sign advertising a business on a public road in Co Kilkenny has jumped dramatically in 12 months
Last year, the owners of the Newpark Golf Driving Range, off the Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny, paid €27 for the privilege of having a finger sign on a sign post at the Castlecomer Road.
This year, the licence for the sign, if it is granted by Kilkenny County Council, will cost €630.
Similar industries all over the country, advertising their businesses on the public road, will receive registered letters from their local authority in the coming weeks.
They will be asked to apply for a licence for their sign and will have to pay €630 if they are approved.
However, the Irish Hotel Federation and umbrella bodies, representing the rest of the accommodation sector, lobbied the Government before the offending section of the Planning and Development Act came into effect in March 2002. They received a derogation and will be charged just €50 for each sign.
Large hotels will pay 1,200 per cent less than others promoting their business or service.
This situation has been highlighted by Owen and Breda Phelan who run the Newpark Golf Centre in Kilkenny.
"This is another form of punitive taxation," Ms Phelan said. She called on others in a similar situation to mount a campaign to get the Government to change its mind. "We are providing a good leisure activity here and we are being victimised by this Government," Ms Phelan said.
"At the weekend, when golf courses were closed, many people came to the driving range. In the summer when tourists cannot get a game of golf or the weather is poor, they come here. We are just as important to the tourism of this country as anyone else," she argued. "At a time when young people are crying out for leisure activities to keep them out of the pubs, the Government seems intent on closing down people like us who are giving kids an alternative," she said.
A spokesman for Kilkenny County Council confirmed that the new licensing system has been put in place and said the introduction of the huge hike was to stop the proliferation of signs.
He understood the frustration of people like the Phelan family but said there was nothing he could do about the situation as it had been prescribed by law.
He said there was no appeal system against the €630 licence fee.