Andrews welcomes improved business sentiment

Chris Andrews TD for Dublin South East has today welcomed the news that confidence is on the rise among small business owners.

Deputy Andrews was responding to a survey by the Small Firms Association which found that business sentiment among small companies had markedly improved since this time last year.

Deputy Andrews said: “It is very encouraging to see that almost a third of company owners now rate their business as 'good' or 'very good'.  As well as this, 29% of owners now expect their business to improve in the next three months, marking a 10% jump on last year.”

“This survey makes for very good news, particularly when viewed alongside John Trethowan's, the head of the Credit Review Office, remark last week that he believed the ‘worst is over' for small business.

Deputy Andrews concluded: “Small businesses form the bedrock of our indigenous economy. While many challenges lied ahead, the Government remains committed to supporting this sector during these difficult times. That is why it has introduced a number of measures over the past 18 months including:

• Establishing a credit review office
• Ensuring that Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland lend a total of €12 billion this year and next under recapitalisation
• Banning upward only rent reviews
• Introducing a PRSI incentive scheme
• Overhauling the public procurement to allow greater access for small businesses”