RGDATA Director General Tara Buckley has urged the Government to extend the Online Retail Scheme being co-ordinated by Enterprise Ireland to local independent convenience stores and family owned supermarkets.

Buckley told The Sunday Business Post that the current scheme excluded local food and convenience retailers because they were not planning to sell online to overseas customers. “The local retailers that RGDATA represents need assistance to improve their online presence to prepare for Brexit and to meet the competition by becoming true “bricks and clicks” businesses.

RGDATA welcomes the comments made by Circuit Court Judge Jacqueline Linnane that “some solicitors should be a bit more selective about who they take on”. The judge made the comments in a case involving a group that travelled from London to Dublin to stage an accident.

RGDATA president Colin Fee and Director General Tara Buckley attended the launch of Dundalk CTCHC by Minister of State Damien English. The Minister thanked RGDATA for playing a very supportive role in the Collaborstive Town Centre Health Check programme.

Minister for Insurance Michael D’Arcy has said that the RGDATA proposal for a levy or supertax on insurance company profits could be considered by the Oireachtas if premiums do not reduce.

The Minister made his comments in an interview with The Sunday Business Post. Read the full interview in the Sunday Business Post 23 June 2019.

RGDATA Director General Tara Buckley was part of a delegation from The Local Jobs Alliance that met with officials from the Department of Social Protection to discuss the Government’s plans to introduce Automatic Enrolment pensions by 2022. The group highlighted the real concerns of local employers about the level of funding that employers would be expected to pay into the scheme and fears about the regulatory burden on SME businesses.

The Report and Final stages of The Judicial Council Bill 2017 are scheduled in the Seanad for Thursday 20th June. The Bill will then proceed to the Dáil and the Government has committed to having the Bill enacted by the third week in July.  Click here to read the press release.

The Garda National Strategic Retail Forum heard that theft in convenience stores and supermarkets was up 3% in the 12 months to April 2019 and the “worst month ever” for drive-offs was April 2019. RGDATA Director General Tara Buckley told the meeting that 94% of independent shops represented by RGDATA experienced retail theft and other criminal activity in 2018 and additional measures were required to tackle the problem.

Director General of RGDATA, Tara Buckley dismissed a claim by Minsister Michael D’Arcy that the Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) was making progress.  Click here to read the Sunday Business Post article.

RGDATA Director General Tara Buckley replied to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s comments at the Law Society Preidential dinner which he mentioned the significant profits being made by insurance companies. RGDATA has written to the Taoiseach uging the govenrment to introduce tax on insurance company profits in budget 2020.  Click here to read the letter.

Click here to read the Alliance for Insurance Reform press release.