Limerick Chamber calls for budget action as ‘Mid-West businesses are ready to grow’

Limerick Chamber calls for budget 2027 action as ‘Mid-West businesses are ready to grow’

Limerick Chamber calls for Budget 2027 to reduce the cost burden on enterprise as ‘Mid-West businesses are ready to grow’

Limerick Chamber has called for Budget 2027 to reduce the cumulative cost burden on enterprise and accelerate the delivery of housing and enabling infrastructure, after its latest Business Sentiment Survey found that rising costs are changing investment, pricing and recruitment across the Mid-West.

Nine in ten respondents reported higher operating costs than 12 months ago, with more than half experiencing an increase of at least 10 per cent. Although there has been an increase in operation costs, 69 per cent of respondents intend to invest over the next six months, 40 per cent expect to increase their workforce and only 7 per cent expect employment to fall.

Limerick Chamber said the findings are not contradictory: businesses still intend to invest, but higher costs are reducing the scale of projects and delaying decisions.

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Seán Golden, Chief Economist and Director of Policy at Limerick Chamber, said, “Mid-West businesses are ready to grow. The question is whether the operating environment allows them to act. There is a critical difference between businesses wanting to invest and businesses being able to invest.

“Business resilience must not be mistaken for unlimited capacity to absorb additional taxation, regulation and operating costs. When margins, investment and recruitment are already being adjusted, further employer operating-cost burdens would weaken the growth that Budget 2027 should be seeking to unlock.”

Limerick Chamber has highlighted three “critical outcomes” sought from Budget 2027, including a reduction in cumulative business costs; an acceleration in housing and enabling infrastructure; and strengthening accountability for delivery by Defining responsibility for strategic projects and publish milestones at national, regional and local level so investors can plan with confidence.

Housing supply and affordability were the most frequently cited constraints on the Mid-West’s competitiveness, selected by 70 per cent of respondents. Planning delays and inadequate water, energy and grid infrastructure followed at 59 per cent, while 35 per cent cited transport and mobility.

Limerick Chamber said these are enterprise issues as well as public service challenges. Insufficient housing makes it harder to attract and retain workers, while gaps in water, grid, energy, and transport capacity delay projects and restrict the regions ability to accommodate investment.

The survey also tested how businesses would respond to a further increase in commercial rates. Six in ten SMEs in the sample describe themselves as sensitive to higher rates, compared with half of large organisations. Respondents indicated that higher rates could lead to lower margins, higher prices for customers, delayed investment and reconsideration of premises or expansion plans.

Limerick Chamber is therefore urging local authorities to consider commercial rates within the wider cumulative cost base and to avoid increases that would further restrict investment. This is a separate decision from Budget 2027, but forms part of the same competitiveness challenge.

Golden said, “Commercial rates are not economically neutral. They are a fixed cost attached to maintaining a physical presence and investing in a location. An increase in commercial rates can weaken margins, increase prices to consumers, discourage premises investment and erode the commercial base on which future rates income depends. Budget 2027 and local authority budget decisions must avoid adding further pressure to already constrained businesses.”