Two thirds of business owners do not agree with the current restrictions on opening hours, a survey conducted by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, GRTU, has found.

The survey was submitted to Economy Minister Chris Cardona as part of consultation on the current opening times legislation.

Dr Cardona said the government was in the process of reforming the legislation with the aim of giving businesses more discretion when deciding their opening hours.

Changes being discussed included allowing businesses to open until 10pm and removing restrictions on public holidays and Sundays.

The telephone survey, spread across 500 retailers and traders, found that 54 per cent wanted to be allowed to open on public holidays. Similarly 52 per cent said they did not agree with restrictions on Sundays.

Of those who did agree with the current legislation, more than two thirds said they did not want to continue paying a fee to open on special days.

Businesses outside tourist areas are charged €700 every time they wanted to open on public holidays and Sundays.

Dr Cardona said the current legislation was creating an unfair business environment, where businesses in certain areas had added advantages.

The issue, he said, had already been discussed internally and would now be opened for public consultation. A white paper would then be drafted.