City Councillors today adjourned their budget meeting for a second time in recent days after two hours of heavy and seemingly inconclusive debate.
The core problem is that the 2025 budget was presented with a spend of almost €150m - but it's costed on the assumption councillors will support a 15% increase in commercial rates.
But many councillors are dead set against that, saying that city businesses cannot afford addiitonal costs right now amid the challenging retail and hospitality landscape.
So if they refuse to increase commercial rates, services will have to be cut by €6m and could include areas like street cleaning, sports projects, and social housing maintenance.
City Councillors will now meet for a third time on Friday afternoon - and tough decisions will have to be made as whatever happens, a budget must be approved by the weekend.
