Budget 2020 a reaction to ‘turbulent waters ahead’
Cork Chamber of Commerce has expressed mixed feelings on what has been a decidedly conservative Budget 2020.
On one hand, the Chamber welcomed the €1.2bn Brexit package, describing it as an important measure to protect Irish businesses in the “turbulent waters ahead”.
However, the Chamber feels that the failure by Government to meaningfully address historic high rents and the lack of viability of new apartment construction is a cause of major concern.
Commenting on the Chamber’s budget priorities, CEO Conor Healy, said: “Outside of Brexit, the availability of housing is the number one issue facing business and the wider community.
“The extension of the Help to Buy Scheme and Living Cities Initiative are positive as 91 per cent of our members support targeted and time bound measures to stimulate construction of new urban accommodation. However, there is no question that Government could have done more in this budget to enable the private sector to deliver affordable urban housing.
“At a time of historic high rents and a complete lack of apartment construction outside of Dublin, it will soon become apparent whether these measures will be enough.”
Commenting on the impact of Brexit, Mr Healy said that it was “obvious” that Brexit has had a defining impact on every element of Budget 2020.
He said: “The identification of agriculture, enterprise and tourism as sectors in need of support to help transition into new markets and products in the event of a no-deal Brexit is appropriate.
“In Cork, tourism and agri-food are particularly important to the economy and vulnerable to Brexit impacts. For example, in 2008 the value of the UK tourism market fell by 23 per cent.
“It is essential that all measures are made available in an easily accessible manner and without delay to improve business confidence at this time of economic uncertainty.”
Mr Healy welcomed an increase to Carbon Tax but warned that businesses must to be able to plan for increasing costs and that they “need clarity” on how carbon tax increases will be levied between now and 2030.
“Ireland needs to improve its climate record. We welcome that the proposed Carbon Tax increases will be ring fenced to support policy interventions to increase the affordability of alternatives to our current carbon intensive lifestyle,” said Mr Healy.
Turning to tax, the Chamber was positive towards the Government’s decision to increase the earned income tax credit for self-employed people.
“Government has committed to ensuring tax equity and so this decision is a further step in the right direction. Our tax system should always ensure fairness and support entrepreneurship and drive growth in our economy,” concluded Mr Healy.