A proposed new Ikea outlet in north Dublin will have a minimal impact on trade elsewhere in the furniture and furnishings sector, it was argued yesterday.
Representatives from Ikea and Fingal County Council, speaking at An Bórd Pleanála's oral hearing into the development, were responding to concerns raised by planner Jim Eustace, who said the proposed Ballymun store would have a "monopoly effect" and would not foster competition.
Mr Eustace, speaking as part of a presentation by the Irish Hardware and Building Materials Association, said that while the Ikea development would create employment locally, there could be closures and job losses elsewhere in the sector, particularly if there was a period of economic uncertainty.
He said this threat, combined with leakage of expenditure from other town centres, could have a serious effect on the furniture trade in other areas of Dublin.
John Rhodes, of RPS, who carried out a retail impact assessment on behalf of Ikea, told the hearing that there had been a deliberate change of national policy to encourage a development of a size such as that of the Ikea store, measuring 30,000sq m (gross) or 323,000sq ft.
Ikea's retail impact assessment found that Blanchardstown would have the biggest loss of expenditure as a result of the development (2.23 per cent), but Mr Rhodes said any offset in trade would be made up for by a predicted overall growth of 49 per cent by 2012.
He said the store would help claw back some of the €6 million Irish people are currently spending in Ikea stores in Britain.
Rachel Kenny, senior planner with Fingal council, which granted permission for the development, said she was satisfied the proposal accords with the "innovative retail warehousing" which the revised 2005 Retail Planning Guidelines sought to encourage.
She said the proposed development, which would create 500 jobs, would be a positive force and driver for employment and economic activity in Ballymun.