It was the culmination of a year in which Supermacs opened six new outlets with a job total of 250 full time and part time staff. This is no mean feat in the current climate and shows that true entrepreneurship will always win through. At the time Pat McDonagh was quoted as saying: ‘We’re very happy to be in a position of growth. The market is challenging and looks that it will be even more challenging next year. We kept our business tight during the good times and it is now paying dividends. We have kept costs and overheads tight and are working smarter and harder.’
In many ways this should be a blueprint for the year ahead for all of us. Supermacs hope to open a further four to five outlets in 2011. This success story is even more admirable considering that the company’s profits were adversely affected for years due to its US investments. It is in the nature of the entrepreneur to keep going, to get on with it and if things go wrong to dust himself off and start again.
Another fitting quote as we head into Christmas and the New Year and cognisant of the difficulties which will continue to face business in 2011 is the following extract from John F. Kennedy’ inaugural address:
‘"All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days.
Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days,
nor in the life of this administration,
nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.
But let us begin."
And on another positive note the announcement by Minister O’Cuiv that Galway Airport is to receive funding totalling €1.7m for 2010 is a great boost for everybody associated with Galway Airport. In particular the Board and the management team at the Airport are to be congratulated for their enormous efforts in generating support for the Airport.
Led by Chairman, Michael Corless and supported by Joe Walsh, Managing Director and the Board Members, they met with local business, local politicians, national business agencies including IDA and Enterprise Ireland, TDs and Ministers and then took the fight to Europe. The cornerstone of their campaign is that the local business community continually say in response to surveys, in meetings, in letters and emails and publicly on the airwaves that Galway Airport is crucial to the continued economic development of Galway and the Region.
That Galway Airport continues to survive irrespective of the economic conditions is a testament to the brave decision makers in Galway Chamber of Commerce who nearly 40 years ago decided that Galway needed its own Airport. Galway Chamber continues to be the 90% owner of the Airport and continues to be central to the Airports ongoing development. There will be other difficult junctures ahead but for now well done Minister, well done Government for listening to reasoned argument and well done Michael Corless and Joe Walsh for your leadership, this success is well deserved.
The offices of Galway Chamber will be closed from 5.30 pm on Thursday December 23rd and will reopen at 9 am on Tuesday January 4th.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our members a Happy and Peaceful Christmas and New Year.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Galway Independent Column 2010 - 15 December 2010
After many months of speculation and foreboding the Budget was finally unveiled last Tuesday by the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan. Although by the time it was delivered many of the key elements had been either leaked or telegraphed in advance. The Budget speech itself was short and fairly bland, to the point where one tended to think, ’what was all the fuss about’, however, as is often the case the ‘devil was in the detail’. In fact, the Minister referred a number of times to supplementary documents as sources of further details and, needless to say, the National Recovery Plan 2011-2014 was never very far away from his remarks.
When the Budget document, the subsequent Government motions on Budget provisions and the Recovery Plan are all taken together the picture that emerges is not an uplifting one - the macro message ‘€6billion spending power taken out of the economy through spending cuts and increased taxation’. At the micro level this means households having €100, €200, €300 less to spend every month which means less money being spent in shops, on holidays, on entertainment, on the occasional treat, not changing the car, delaying the renovation i.e. a collective tightening of belts across society, which in turns means businesses having less turnover and having to cut costs, and inevitably having to reduce employee numbers which means job losses.
There were a couple of rays of light, however – the surprise announcement that Stamp Duty is being greatly reduced, the rejuvenation of the BES funding scheme for high potential businesses and the extension of the car scrappage scheme. It remains to be seen whether these initiatives will generate much needed confidence but for anyone about to purchase property there is an immediate much welcome benefit. The allocation of additional places on State Training schemes is to be welcomed as it will allow those seeking new employment or employment for the first time to gain valuable experience and new skills to compete for work.
Overall, though, Galway Chamber’s concern is for businesses and for jobs, and last week’s Budget is not good for jobs. Neither was last week’s decision by Galway City Council to vote against a proposal to reduce the €33million rates burden on Galway’s business community by 2.2%, instead opting for a token 1% reduction. The reported reaction of two prominent City Councillors to criticism of this token decision by Galway Chamber and its lobbying partners the Irish Hotels Federation, The Irish Vintners federation and IBEC is not unexpected. What is unexpected is that these Councillors represent political parties that traditionally are pro-enterprise and yet on this occasion when faced with the opportunity to support the owners of businesses who take risks, create jobs, sponsor sports and culture events and help make Galway the tourist attraction that it is, these Councillors and their Party colleagues vote against a meaningful reduction in Rates that could have saved jobs in our community.
Galway Chamber and its lobbying partners make no apology for asking Councillors to help save jobs in Galway.
Note: At the Public Meeting on Rates convened by Galway Chamber and our lobbying Partners and held on Monday December 3rd we were challenged by a number of Councillors to find savings in the Galway City Council’s Draft Budget. A number of costs in the draft document were discussed with Councillors and a number of potential savings were identified. The Councillors were also provided with the output of the Government’s Local Authority Efficiency Review Group which contains five pages of recommendations where savings totalling €544m could be achieved across all Local Authorities, if implemented.
Good News
Galway Chamber welcomes the very good news, released yesterday, that 105 new jobs are to be created in HP at its plant in Ballybrit. It was great to hear the urgency in the voice of Martin Murphy, HP Ireland Managing Director, on the news last evening when he indicated that the jobs were available ‘now’ and anybody interested in applying should send in their CV immediately online – access by googling ‘Jobs at HP’. There is no doubt that this positive job announcement, and the two other announcements in recent weeks which brings to over 300 the total of new jobs in Galway over the last six weeks, was influenced by our 12.5% Corporate Tax Rate – thankfully, it remained unchanged in last week’s Budget and when/if it is challenged by some of our EU partners, Galway Chamber will lobby/lecture and do whatever is necessary to retain this most important weapon in securing future jobs in this country.
When the Budget document, the subsequent Government motions on Budget provisions and the Recovery Plan are all taken together the picture that emerges is not an uplifting one - the macro message ‘€6billion spending power taken out of the economy through spending cuts and increased taxation’. At the micro level this means households having €100, €200, €300 less to spend every month which means less money being spent in shops, on holidays, on entertainment, on the occasional treat, not changing the car, delaying the renovation i.e. a collective tightening of belts across society, which in turns means businesses having less turnover and having to cut costs, and inevitably having to reduce employee numbers which means job losses.
There were a couple of rays of light, however – the surprise announcement that Stamp Duty is being greatly reduced, the rejuvenation of the BES funding scheme for high potential businesses and the extension of the car scrappage scheme. It remains to be seen whether these initiatives will generate much needed confidence but for anyone about to purchase property there is an immediate much welcome benefit. The allocation of additional places on State Training schemes is to be welcomed as it will allow those seeking new employment or employment for the first time to gain valuable experience and new skills to compete for work.
Overall, though, Galway Chamber’s concern is for businesses and for jobs, and last week’s Budget is not good for jobs. Neither was last week’s decision by Galway City Council to vote against a proposal to reduce the €33million rates burden on Galway’s business community by 2.2%, instead opting for a token 1% reduction. The reported reaction of two prominent City Councillors to criticism of this token decision by Galway Chamber and its lobbying partners the Irish Hotels Federation, The Irish Vintners federation and IBEC is not unexpected. What is unexpected is that these Councillors represent political parties that traditionally are pro-enterprise and yet on this occasion when faced with the opportunity to support the owners of businesses who take risks, create jobs, sponsor sports and culture events and help make Galway the tourist attraction that it is, these Councillors and their Party colleagues vote against a meaningful reduction in Rates that could have saved jobs in our community.
Galway Chamber and its lobbying partners make no apology for asking Councillors to help save jobs in Galway.
Note: At the Public Meeting on Rates convened by Galway Chamber and our lobbying Partners and held on Monday December 3rd we were challenged by a number of Councillors to find savings in the Galway City Council’s Draft Budget. A number of costs in the draft document were discussed with Councillors and a number of potential savings were identified. The Councillors were also provided with the output of the Government’s Local Authority Efficiency Review Group which contains five pages of recommendations where savings totalling €544m could be achieved across all Local Authorities, if implemented.
Good News
Galway Chamber welcomes the very good news, released yesterday, that 105 new jobs are to be created in HP at its plant in Ballybrit. It was great to hear the urgency in the voice of Martin Murphy, HP Ireland Managing Director, on the news last evening when he indicated that the jobs were available ‘now’ and anybody interested in applying should send in their CV immediately online – access by googling ‘Jobs at HP’. There is no doubt that this positive job announcement, and the two other announcements in recent weeks which brings to over 300 the total of new jobs in Galway over the last six weeks, was influenced by our 12.5% Corporate Tax Rate – thankfully, it remained unchanged in last week’s Budget and when/if it is challenged by some of our EU partners, Galway Chamber will lobby/lecture and do whatever is necessary to retain this most important weapon in securing future jobs in this country.
Galway Independent Column - 8 December 2010
Over 100 business people from Galway city and surrounding areas attended a Public Meeting on December 1 to
articulate their views on Commercial Rates. Organised by the combined lobbying group of Galway Chamber, IBEC, IHF and VFI, the meeting was chaired by Chamber President Carmel Brennan and Q and A directed by Chamber CEO Michael Coyle.
Each of the lobbying partners told the meeting of the position taken by their particular organisation and the common view was that Commercial Rates must be substantially reduced this year or jobs will be lost in the coming year.
The meeting was told by all speakers that jobs are currently at risk, that businesses have cut their costs to the bone and that an extra tax that isn’t related to ability to pay, is just not on.
When the meeting was opened to the floor each business contributor reiterated the need for cuts in Commercial Rates this year.
City Councillors who attended the meeting included Cllrs McNeilis, Connolly, Conneely, Nolan, Keane, Naughton while attendees from Galway County Council included Cllrs Cuddy, McClearn, Hoade and Broderick.
At the meeting the floor questioned what exactly we pay rates for, what do we get for our payments, what will happen in January when businesses will be forced to lay off staff. Galway Chamber and the lobbying partners had proposed a 10% reduction in rates, the floor questioned whether or not this was enough with some calling for 50%. Case studies were told from the floor with the common theme that enough was enough and businesses were now in such straits that they just couldn’t pay.
On the process of commercial rates a question was put to Councillors re their power in the matter. The general answer given was very little, ie ultimately if the councillors don’t manage to pass the budget and strike a rate the decision is then taken out of their hands and passed over to the Dept. of Environment.
The Councillors asked the meeting to put their suggestions for finding ways to reduce commercial rates without cutting frontline services. Michael Coyle finished the meeting by saying that the lobbying group had already sent to each City and County Councillor as well as the Acting City Manager and the County Manager five A4 pages of recommendations for cost cutting in Local Authorities suggested by the Local Government Efficiency Review, a body tasked with finding ways of cost cutting in Local Authorities. If implemented these recommendations would ensure savings that could then be passed on to the business communities in substantial rates reductions.
Other issues from the floor included the difficulty of dealing with the Council re payment plans or options regarding rates payments. Contrary to what the Council’s say it was the attendees views that it is not easy to negotiate with the Council regarding rates difficulties. The meeting believed that there was a distinct lack of flexibility.
Following the Public Meeting on commercial rates the lobbying partners invited each of the political groupings in Galway City Council to meet with them on the subject of rates prior to Monday’s Budget meeting. The partners met with Cllrs Keane, Crowe and Mayor Crowe from Fianna Fail; with Cllrs Conneely and Walshe from Fine Gael; Cllrs McNeilis, Cameron and Nolan from Labour and Cllr O’Flaherty from the Independents.
Again, on behalf of the members of Galway Chamber, the IHF, the VFI and IBEC we made a very strong case for a substantial reduction in commercial rates for the coming year. Again we pointed out to Councillors that we were not in favour of cutting frontline operations rather we felt that there are efficiencies and cost cutting that Local Authorities could put in place in order to make savings that could be passed onto ratepayers.
We pointed out that it is the entrepreneurs, the business people, the job creators who will lead our economy into profitability. These are the commercial ratepayers and they must be given breathing space to lead us out of this period of darkness.
What happened then….
However, on Monday night in City Hall Councillors voted to reduce Commerical Rates by a token 1%. We believe that jobs across Galway City have been put at risk following this decision. Ignoring the impending Government Budget which will be announced today and ignoring the need to reduce its cost base, Galway City Council decided to maintain a €33 million Rates burden on Galway’s business community.
Galway City Councillors decided to ignore the call for a 10% reduction in Rates. In doing so they also ignored yesterday’s Government Budget which at the time of writing was set to take €6billion out of the economy through Tax increases and spending cuts, they ignored the Government’s 4-year National Recovery Plan which calls for cost savings to be achieved by Local Authorities, they ignored the recommendations of the
Government’s Local Authority Efficiency Review Group which urges Local Authorities to integrate administrative functions with neighbouring Local Authorities and move to pooling resources and sharing services and they ignored the pleas from their own business community in Galway for support in order to keep business open and to maintain employment locally.
‘Despite significant levels of unpaid rates and many business closures and empty buildings Galway City Council voted to maintain a €33million Rates Burden on Galway Businesses, the vast majority of which are small businesses operating in vulnerable sectors such as Retail and Hospitality – jobs will be lost in these businesses’, according to Galway Chamber President, Carmel Brennan.
‘Galway City Council’s failure to recognize the difficulties faced by the Irish Economy and the need for change is a serious error of judgement’, added Terry Tyson, Chairman of the Vintners Federation of Ireland Galway.
‘Last night’s City Council meeting was an opportunity for the elected representatives and officials in City Hall to show leadership at this most difficult time for our economy – it was an opportunity not taken and the consequences for jobs in Galway could be very serious indeed’ said Michael Coyle, Galway Chamber CEO.
View the recommendations of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group on our website www.galwaychamber.com
articulate their views on Commercial Rates. Organised by the combined lobbying group of Galway Chamber, IBEC, IHF and VFI, the meeting was chaired by Chamber President Carmel Brennan and Q and A directed by Chamber CEO Michael Coyle.
Each of the lobbying partners told the meeting of the position taken by their particular organisation and the common view was that Commercial Rates must be substantially reduced this year or jobs will be lost in the coming year.
The meeting was told by all speakers that jobs are currently at risk, that businesses have cut their costs to the bone and that an extra tax that isn’t related to ability to pay, is just not on.
When the meeting was opened to the floor each business contributor reiterated the need for cuts in Commercial Rates this year.
City Councillors who attended the meeting included Cllrs McNeilis, Connolly, Conneely, Nolan, Keane, Naughton while attendees from Galway County Council included Cllrs Cuddy, McClearn, Hoade and Broderick.
At the meeting the floor questioned what exactly we pay rates for, what do we get for our payments, what will happen in January when businesses will be forced to lay off staff. Galway Chamber and the lobbying partners had proposed a 10% reduction in rates, the floor questioned whether or not this was enough with some calling for 50%. Case studies were told from the floor with the common theme that enough was enough and businesses were now in such straits that they just couldn’t pay.
On the process of commercial rates a question was put to Councillors re their power in the matter. The general answer given was very little, ie ultimately if the councillors don’t manage to pass the budget and strike a rate the decision is then taken out of their hands and passed over to the Dept. of Environment.
The Councillors asked the meeting to put their suggestions for finding ways to reduce commercial rates without cutting frontline services. Michael Coyle finished the meeting by saying that the lobbying group had already sent to each City and County Councillor as well as the Acting City Manager and the County Manager five A4 pages of recommendations for cost cutting in Local Authorities suggested by the Local Government Efficiency Review, a body tasked with finding ways of cost cutting in Local Authorities. If implemented these recommendations would ensure savings that could then be passed on to the business communities in substantial rates reductions.
Other issues from the floor included the difficulty of dealing with the Council re payment plans or options regarding rates payments. Contrary to what the Council’s say it was the attendees views that it is not easy to negotiate with the Council regarding rates difficulties. The meeting believed that there was a distinct lack of flexibility.
Following the Public Meeting on commercial rates the lobbying partners invited each of the political groupings in Galway City Council to meet with them on the subject of rates prior to Monday’s Budget meeting. The partners met with Cllrs Keane, Crowe and Mayor Crowe from Fianna Fail; with Cllrs Conneely and Walshe from Fine Gael; Cllrs McNeilis, Cameron and Nolan from Labour and Cllr O’Flaherty from the Independents.
Again, on behalf of the members of Galway Chamber, the IHF, the VFI and IBEC we made a very strong case for a substantial reduction in commercial rates for the coming year. Again we pointed out to Councillors that we were not in favour of cutting frontline operations rather we felt that there are efficiencies and cost cutting that Local Authorities could put in place in order to make savings that could be passed onto ratepayers.
We pointed out that it is the entrepreneurs, the business people, the job creators who will lead our economy into profitability. These are the commercial ratepayers and they must be given breathing space to lead us out of this period of darkness.
What happened then….
However, on Monday night in City Hall Councillors voted to reduce Commerical Rates by a token 1%. We believe that jobs across Galway City have been put at risk following this decision. Ignoring the impending Government Budget which will be announced today and ignoring the need to reduce its cost base, Galway City Council decided to maintain a €33 million Rates burden on Galway’s business community.
Galway City Councillors decided to ignore the call for a 10% reduction in Rates. In doing so they also ignored yesterday’s Government Budget which at the time of writing was set to take €6billion out of the economy through Tax increases and spending cuts, they ignored the Government’s 4-year National Recovery Plan which calls for cost savings to be achieved by Local Authorities, they ignored the recommendations of the
Government’s Local Authority Efficiency Review Group which urges Local Authorities to integrate administrative functions with neighbouring Local Authorities and move to pooling resources and sharing services and they ignored the pleas from their own business community in Galway for support in order to keep business open and to maintain employment locally.
‘Despite significant levels of unpaid rates and many business closures and empty buildings Galway City Council voted to maintain a €33million Rates Burden on Galway Businesses, the vast majority of which are small businesses operating in vulnerable sectors such as Retail and Hospitality – jobs will be lost in these businesses’, according to Galway Chamber President, Carmel Brennan.
‘Galway City Council’s failure to recognize the difficulties faced by the Irish Economy and the need for change is a serious error of judgement’, added Terry Tyson, Chairman of the Vintners Federation of Ireland Galway.
‘Last night’s City Council meeting was an opportunity for the elected representatives and officials in City Hall to show leadership at this most difficult time for our economy – it was an opportunity not taken and the consequences for jobs in Galway could be very serious indeed’ said Michael Coyle, Galway Chamber CEO.
View the recommendations of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group on our website www.galwaychamber.com
Galway Independent Column - 1st December 2010
A Galway City councillor was quoted in the local media recently as saying that a plea by city businesses for a 10% rates reduction ‘would carry a lot more weight’ if the Chamber of Commerce encouraged members to pay up the outstanding rates bill of between €18 million and €22 million.
Galway Chamber has never encouraged any member to default on commercial rates payment even when such measures were proposed as a reaction to rates increases in the past. The payment of Commercial Rates is a statutory obligation on business regardless of ability to pay or the fact that it is an extra tax on business.
It is a fact that there are businesses in Galway that cannot pay rates…they have been encouraged to engage with City Hall to put payment plans in place. Non-collection of Commercial Rates to the value of €18 million from ‘trading businesses’ must ask some questions of City Hall.
Traditionally Commercial Rates plug the gap in the local authority coffers, they balance the books between the national exchequer funding, other income streams and what’s left. Over the last two years Businesses (Rate Payers) have implemented Cost Saving measures that have included
Pay Freezes
Wage Reductions
Staff Reductions
Operational measures aimed at improving efficiency
Product Price Reductions
Customer Service improvements
Line by line reductions in spending
All of the above have been put in place in order to remain in business and survive these difficult economic times. It would be reassuring if City Councillors could provide details of similar measures that have been introduced by the City Council and identify clearly to the people of Galway the scale of Budget reductions that have been achieved so that the burden of Commercial Rates can be eased and jobs can be made secure?
Along with our lobbying partner organisations IBEC West, the Irish Hotels Federation West, Vintners Federation of Ireland, Galway, Galway Chamber will hold a public meeting on Commercial Rates this evening Wednesday December 1 at 6 pm. All business people are invited to attend. All City and County Councillors have also been invited to attend.
We recently welcomed the publication of the report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group, and its recommendations, many of which if implemented, could deliver much needed savings to local authorities.
The Review group said that reforms outlined by it would result in savings of in the region of €511 million. Business has been the funder of ‘last resort’ for many local authorities. Therefore cost savings achieved must be passed back to businesses in the form of reduced rates and other charges.
The Local Government Efficiency Review Group’s recommendations include the areas of Administration (7 recommendations); Staffing (8 recommendations); Housing (7 recommendations); Roads (3 recommendations); Water (9 recommendations); Planning (4 recommendations); Waste (3 recommendations); Motor Tax (6 recommendations); Local Government and the Wider Public Service (4 recommendations); Audit/Value for Money (13 recommendations); Financial Reporting/Management (9 recommendations); Cost Recovery and Revenue Issues (8 recommendations); Procurement (10 recommendations); Information and Communication Technology (5 recommendations); Shared Services (4 recommendations); Local Government and the Wider Public Service (5 recommendations); Other Cross-Cutting Recommendations (4 recommendations). These recommendations are flagged variously as short, medium or long term and while it would be a major ask to try to implement such a vast range of recommendations it would be incumbent of the Minister to seriously attempt the implementation of the majority.
The Local Government Efficiency Review Group was established in 2009 to review the cost base, expenditure of and numbers employed in local authorities, the members of the group were: Pat McLoughlin, Chief Executive, Irish Payment Services Organisation and former Deputy Chief Executive of the HSE (Chairperson); Donal McNally, Second Secretary General, Department of Finance; John O’Hagan, Professor of Economics, Trinity College; John Quinlivan, former County Manager; Ian Talbot, Chief Executive, Chambers Ireland; and Geraldine Tallon, Secretary General, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
All business people are welcome to the Public Meeting on Commercial Rates this evening in Hotel Meyrick, Eyre Square at 6 p.m.
Galway Chamber has never encouraged any member to default on commercial rates payment even when such measures were proposed as a reaction to rates increases in the past. The payment of Commercial Rates is a statutory obligation on business regardless of ability to pay or the fact that it is an extra tax on business.
It is a fact that there are businesses in Galway that cannot pay rates…they have been encouraged to engage with City Hall to put payment plans in place. Non-collection of Commercial Rates to the value of €18 million from ‘trading businesses’ must ask some questions of City Hall.
Traditionally Commercial Rates plug the gap in the local authority coffers, they balance the books between the national exchequer funding, other income streams and what’s left. Over the last two years Businesses (Rate Payers) have implemented Cost Saving measures that have included
Pay Freezes
Wage Reductions
Staff Reductions
Operational measures aimed at improving efficiency
Product Price Reductions
Customer Service improvements
Line by line reductions in spending
All of the above have been put in place in order to remain in business and survive these difficult economic times. It would be reassuring if City Councillors could provide details of similar measures that have been introduced by the City Council and identify clearly to the people of Galway the scale of Budget reductions that have been achieved so that the burden of Commercial Rates can be eased and jobs can be made secure?
Along with our lobbying partner organisations IBEC West, the Irish Hotels Federation West, Vintners Federation of Ireland, Galway, Galway Chamber will hold a public meeting on Commercial Rates this evening Wednesday December 1 at 6 pm. All business people are invited to attend. All City and County Councillors have also been invited to attend.
We recently welcomed the publication of the report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group, and its recommendations, many of which if implemented, could deliver much needed savings to local authorities.
The Review group said that reforms outlined by it would result in savings of in the region of €511 million. Business has been the funder of ‘last resort’ for many local authorities. Therefore cost savings achieved must be passed back to businesses in the form of reduced rates and other charges.
The Local Government Efficiency Review Group’s recommendations include the areas of Administration (7 recommendations); Staffing (8 recommendations); Housing (7 recommendations); Roads (3 recommendations); Water (9 recommendations); Planning (4 recommendations); Waste (3 recommendations); Motor Tax (6 recommendations); Local Government and the Wider Public Service (4 recommendations); Audit/Value for Money (13 recommendations); Financial Reporting/Management (9 recommendations); Cost Recovery and Revenue Issues (8 recommendations); Procurement (10 recommendations); Information and Communication Technology (5 recommendations); Shared Services (4 recommendations); Local Government and the Wider Public Service (5 recommendations); Other Cross-Cutting Recommendations (4 recommendations). These recommendations are flagged variously as short, medium or long term and while it would be a major ask to try to implement such a vast range of recommendations it would be incumbent of the Minister to seriously attempt the implementation of the majority.
The Local Government Efficiency Review Group was established in 2009 to review the cost base, expenditure of and numbers employed in local authorities, the members of the group were: Pat McLoughlin, Chief Executive, Irish Payment Services Organisation and former Deputy Chief Executive of the HSE (Chairperson); Donal McNally, Second Secretary General, Department of Finance; John O’Hagan, Professor of Economics, Trinity College; John Quinlivan, former County Manager; Ian Talbot, Chief Executive, Chambers Ireland; and Geraldine Tallon, Secretary General, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
All business people are welcome to the Public Meeting on Commercial Rates this evening in Hotel Meyrick, Eyre Square at 6 p.m.
Galway Independent Column - 24 November 2010
They say that a week is a long time in politics…well it certainly has seemed like a long time since this day last week. A lot has happened on the Ireland Inc front and it’s still happening. At the time of writing we are not clear on all the detail of the so called ‘bailout’ and what exactly the multibillion euro rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund will involve. Questions remain but the one question that’s answered is ‘Is it happening?’ ‘Yes, it is’.
Bank of Ireland Group Chief Economist Dan McLaughlin writing on issues affecting the retail sector recently said that fears about the economy has resulted in consumer confidence falling and spending easing back. He said: ‘People tend to save more and spend less when unemployment is rising and there is a consensus at the moment that unemployment is peaking. The number of people being made redundant each month has fallen quite a lot. If the labour market has bottomed out we may see growth in the economy of 2 to 2.5% next year and the outlook will be a lot better for the retail sector than it has been. Of course, the current uncertainty adds to the down side risk.
‘Curiously’, he added ‘consumer confidence rose after last year’s budget probably because it gave them some certainty; they need that same certainty again’.
We could all do with some of this certainty. If consumers are afraid to spend because they don’t know what’s around the corner, then the ripple effect permeates business at every level. The upcoming Budget has seemed to be coming forever and is fixed in peoples minds as a harbinger of doom. If the general public is confused and fearful then certainty or a measure of certainty is needed. We now have an unprecedented situation where the Government proposing the budget has committed itself to dissolution in the early part of next year. This does not engender certainty in our nation: in our people or our funders. So, certainty allied to courage is what we desperately need. Isn’t it time that the much used phrase ‘the national interest’ meant something…
Yesterday morning in the final ‘8 Tuesdays @ 8’ morning event at Galway Chamber our three council members from AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank held an interactive session on the topic of ‘Banks…Open for Business’ where they outlined the position of the banks on credit for SMEs. Each bank is emphatically open to lend and stress that where criteria are met, SMEs will be funded.
This is good news and is reiterated in the Quarterly Report from John Trethowan, Credit Reviewer, published this week. In the December 2009 budget, the Minister for Finance announced the setting-up of the Credit Review Office to help ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises, sole traders and farm enterprises have access to credit from the banks who are participating in the NAMA scheme. The office was established to provide a process to review decisions by the participating banks to refuse, reduce or withdraw credit facilities.
In this second Quarterly Report from the credit reviewer, John Trethowan says:
‘Work is ongoing to identify any barriers to SME lending, and I have added a generic loan application form onto the Credit Review Office website to assist borrowers in making an initial written approach to any bank for lending, to overcome the ‘casual refusal’ sometimes experienced by verbal enquiries at bank branch and business centre counters.’
The office of the Credit Reviewer is there to help SMEs. It should be used. www.creditreview.ie
Bank of Ireland Group Chief Economist Dan McLaughlin writing on issues affecting the retail sector recently said that fears about the economy has resulted in consumer confidence falling and spending easing back. He said: ‘People tend to save more and spend less when unemployment is rising and there is a consensus at the moment that unemployment is peaking. The number of people being made redundant each month has fallen quite a lot. If the labour market has bottomed out we may see growth in the economy of 2 to 2.5% next year and the outlook will be a lot better for the retail sector than it has been. Of course, the current uncertainty adds to the down side risk.
‘Curiously’, he added ‘consumer confidence rose after last year’s budget probably because it gave them some certainty; they need that same certainty again’.
We could all do with some of this certainty. If consumers are afraid to spend because they don’t know what’s around the corner, then the ripple effect permeates business at every level. The upcoming Budget has seemed to be coming forever and is fixed in peoples minds as a harbinger of doom. If the general public is confused and fearful then certainty or a measure of certainty is needed. We now have an unprecedented situation where the Government proposing the budget has committed itself to dissolution in the early part of next year. This does not engender certainty in our nation: in our people or our funders. So, certainty allied to courage is what we desperately need. Isn’t it time that the much used phrase ‘the national interest’ meant something…
Yesterday morning in the final ‘8 Tuesdays @ 8’ morning event at Galway Chamber our three council members from AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank held an interactive session on the topic of ‘Banks…Open for Business’ where they outlined the position of the banks on credit for SMEs. Each bank is emphatically open to lend and stress that where criteria are met, SMEs will be funded.
This is good news and is reiterated in the Quarterly Report from John Trethowan, Credit Reviewer, published this week. In the December 2009 budget, the Minister for Finance announced the setting-up of the Credit Review Office to help ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises, sole traders and farm enterprises have access to credit from the banks who are participating in the NAMA scheme. The office was established to provide a process to review decisions by the participating banks to refuse, reduce or withdraw credit facilities.
In this second Quarterly Report from the credit reviewer, John Trethowan says:
‘Work is ongoing to identify any barriers to SME lending, and I have added a generic loan application form onto the Credit Review Office website to assist borrowers in making an initial written approach to any bank for lending, to overcome the ‘casual refusal’ sometimes experienced by verbal enquiries at bank branch and business centre counters.’
The office of the Credit Reviewer is there to help SMEs. It should be used. www.creditreview.ie
Galway Independent Column - 17 November 2010
Nurturing the entrepreneurs among us is vital to our economic recovery. The truth of this statement is borne out by the Government’s Innovation Taskforce Report, by events such as the Farmleigh forum over a year ago, by the gathering of technology giants founders a couple of weeks ago in Dublin and also by an upcoming Enterprise Week.
Speaking at the launch of the Taskforce Report the Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan T.D., said: "Our success to date in turning investments in research and development, in entrepreneurs, in innovative companies into world beating competitive advantage for jobs and growth must be redoubled. Critical to this is the removal of barriers to success and seizing the opportunities that the Taskforce has identified."
Removing these ‘barriers to success’ is key and interestingly something that has been written about extensively in the media recently is our attitude in this country to failure. This was addressed by some of the participants in the ‘Founders’ conference in Dublin at the end of October.
Jack Dorsey, creator, founder and chairman of Twitter spoke about ‘failure’ in California being almost a badge of honour or a rite of passage…a springboard to success. He told a packed audience that there was no better time than a recession to create something.
Risk is part of being an entrepreneur and the courage to take that risk should be seen as a positive rather than a negative attribute. We need our entrepreneurs and we must create a culture in this country that has less of the ‘begrudger’ attitude and more of the ‘empowerment’ attitude.
Bank of Ireland will hold another National Enterprise Week starting this Friday November 19th to November 26th. This follows the success of the National Enterprise Week held in May to encourage and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of small and medium sized business sector.
With the primary objective of supporting and aiding business recovery, Bank of Ireland customers and non-customers have been invited to avail of the opportunity to showcase their products and sell their goods and services in the branch premises in the 'Show Your Business' event. This will provide a platform to network with other businesses and discuss challenges in the current economic climate. Last May over 1,400 businesses availed of this opportunity and many of them generated new sales as a result.
Opportunity still exists to take part in the 'Show Your Business' event over the week in branches in Eyre Square, Galway Industrial Estate and Oranmore. To avail of this opportunity contact Galway Industrial Estate - John McGrath @ 091-705747; Eyre Square - Gemma Costello @ 091 537013;
Oranmore - contact John Harkin @ 091-794529
Bank of Ireland is also supporting entrepreneurial spirit by continuing their sponsorship of RTE’s Dragons’ Den this year. As the blurb for the show says: ‘One idea, one pitch, one deal away from the dream’. The Irish Dragons are successful entrepreneurs and business leaders who have been there, done that. This year will see the introduction of brand new Dragon Norah Casey, who will join Gavin Duffy, Bobby Kerr, Sean Gallagher and Niall O’Farrell in the Den.
The deadline for applications for the show is November 28 2010. Check out the details on www.rte.ie/dragonsden.
Speaking at the launch of the Taskforce Report the Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan T.D., said: "Our success to date in turning investments in research and development, in entrepreneurs, in innovative companies into world beating competitive advantage for jobs and growth must be redoubled. Critical to this is the removal of barriers to success and seizing the opportunities that the Taskforce has identified."
Removing these ‘barriers to success’ is key and interestingly something that has been written about extensively in the media recently is our attitude in this country to failure. This was addressed by some of the participants in the ‘Founders’ conference in Dublin at the end of October.
Jack Dorsey, creator, founder and chairman of Twitter spoke about ‘failure’ in California being almost a badge of honour or a rite of passage…a springboard to success. He told a packed audience that there was no better time than a recession to create something.
Risk is part of being an entrepreneur and the courage to take that risk should be seen as a positive rather than a negative attribute. We need our entrepreneurs and we must create a culture in this country that has less of the ‘begrudger’ attitude and more of the ‘empowerment’ attitude.
Bank of Ireland will hold another National Enterprise Week starting this Friday November 19th to November 26th. This follows the success of the National Enterprise Week held in May to encourage and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of small and medium sized business sector.
With the primary objective of supporting and aiding business recovery, Bank of Ireland customers and non-customers have been invited to avail of the opportunity to showcase their products and sell their goods and services in the branch premises in the 'Show Your Business' event. This will provide a platform to network with other businesses and discuss challenges in the current economic climate. Last May over 1,400 businesses availed of this opportunity and many of them generated new sales as a result.
Opportunity still exists to take part in the 'Show Your Business' event over the week in branches in Eyre Square, Galway Industrial Estate and Oranmore. To avail of this opportunity contact Galway Industrial Estate - John McGrath @ 091-705747; Eyre Square - Gemma Costello @ 091 537013;
Oranmore - contact John Harkin @ 091-794529
Bank of Ireland is also supporting entrepreneurial spirit by continuing their sponsorship of RTE’s Dragons’ Den this year. As the blurb for the show says: ‘One idea, one pitch, one deal away from the dream’. The Irish Dragons are successful entrepreneurs and business leaders who have been there, done that. This year will see the introduction of brand new Dragon Norah Casey, who will join Gavin Duffy, Bobby Kerr, Sean Gallagher and Niall O’Farrell in the Den.
The deadline for applications for the show is November 28 2010. Check out the details on www.rte.ie/dragonsden.
Galway Independent Column - 10 November 2010
It was great news for Galway last week with the launch of 50 new jobs by Industrial Info Resources (IIR). The Texan market research company acquired the former Global Marketing Technologies in Ballybrit and will recruit in the areas of research, sales and administration. As Minister Batt O’Keefe said at the announcement, it is indeed, a vote of confidence in Galway.
Confidence is in pretty short supply at the moment. It’s defined as ‘belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing’ as in ‘We have every confidence in their ability to succeed’ and also ‘belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance’ as in ‘His lack of confidence defeated him’.
It’s a powerful thing, confidence. It can be the difference between success and failure. The holding pattern in which we find ourselves as businesses and as a country, is largely dependent on our confidence in the upcoming Budget and the Government’s ability to get it right. Not only must we have confidence in Government but the rest of the world must have it too. Our credibility on the world stage is a matter of the confidence that international bond markets and all potential investors have in us. That in turn impacts on our spending patterns as businesses and individually. Spending decisions and the timing of those decisions is affected by this confidence.
Deloitte have just published a report on consumer spending which shows that overall spending will fall by 10% this Christmas but despite this cutback we are still topping the spending ladder among our European neighbours. Only Luxembourg spends more. The respondents to the survey here said that their prudent spend will be a result of a fear that the economic downturn will get worse. There is no doubt that there is a new economic reality but our confidence as consumers directly affects our business confidence and ultimately Ireland Inc’s confidence.
At a press conference post 9/11 Rudy Giuliani, encouraging the people of New York to resume their normal lives said: ‘Show your confidence. Show you're not afraid. Go to restaurants. Go shopping’. While there is no comparison between the atrocity that was 9/11 and an economic downturn, the belief in confidence as an enabler is obvious. Our pre-Budget to Government is entitled: ‘Keep Jobs, Create Confidence, Cut Costs’ and will be submitted this week. Should any Chamber Members have submissions for inclusion please email michael@galwaychamber.com
Confidence is in pretty short supply at the moment. It’s defined as ‘belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing’ as in ‘We have every confidence in their ability to succeed’ and also ‘belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance’ as in ‘His lack of confidence defeated him’.
It’s a powerful thing, confidence. It can be the difference between success and failure. The holding pattern in which we find ourselves as businesses and as a country, is largely dependent on our confidence in the upcoming Budget and the Government’s ability to get it right. Not only must we have confidence in Government but the rest of the world must have it too. Our credibility on the world stage is a matter of the confidence that international bond markets and all potential investors have in us. That in turn impacts on our spending patterns as businesses and individually. Spending decisions and the timing of those decisions is affected by this confidence.
Deloitte have just published a report on consumer spending which shows that overall spending will fall by 10% this Christmas but despite this cutback we are still topping the spending ladder among our European neighbours. Only Luxembourg spends more. The respondents to the survey here said that their prudent spend will be a result of a fear that the economic downturn will get worse. There is no doubt that there is a new economic reality but our confidence as consumers directly affects our business confidence and ultimately Ireland Inc’s confidence.
At a press conference post 9/11 Rudy Giuliani, encouraging the people of New York to resume their normal lives said: ‘Show your confidence. Show you're not afraid. Go to restaurants. Go shopping’. While there is no comparison between the atrocity that was 9/11 and an economic downturn, the belief in confidence as an enabler is obvious. Our pre-Budget to Government is entitled: ‘Keep Jobs, Create Confidence, Cut Costs’ and will be submitted this week. Should any Chamber Members have submissions for inclusion please email michael@galwaychamber.com
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