Retailers and manufacturers have slammed proposals to restrict commercial deliveries in Dublin city centre as flawed and unworkable. Moves by the City Council to restrict deliveries to a two- hour window between 10am and 12pm will have a catastrophic effect on local businesses, claims lobby group RGDATA, the Food and Drink Federation of Ireland and other industry bodies. "It is simply inconceivable that 936 deliveries that would have typically been delivered between 7am and 5pm, can now be delivered in a two hour window," said RGDATA director general Ailish Forde. "The council embarked on a consultation with RGDATA and other bodies and then proceeded to ignore everything we said. "If they don't rethink this one, we will have to take it to the minister concerned." Dublin City Council's director of Traffic Owen Keegan said the lack of storage capacity in the retail trade compounded traffic problems by forcing more frequent deliveries. "Effectively, the public road is being used as free storage space by these outlets. This practice is not acceptable," he said. The scheme is due for launch in September this year. {{NEWS }}