Fianna Fáil General Election candidate for Clare Cllr. Cathal Crowe says the government must ensure that it puts supports in place to help small and medium businesses in Clare, ahead of a predicted slowdown in economic growth.
The latest Draft Stability Programme Update (SPU) 2019 signals a reduction in economic growth over the next few years.
Cllr. Crowe said, “The latest forecasts clearly predicts a downturn in the economy, with growth of 6.7% in 2018 falling to a predicted 3.9% this year and 3.3% in 2020, and falling further to 2.4% in 2021.
“The SPU, published last week paints a broadly positive picture but there are risks that the government can mitigate. Issues like competitiveness and the housing crisis need to be urgently addressed and supports for small and medium businesses need to be prioritised by the Business Minister.
“There are real concerns about the government’s overreliance on corporation tax receipts, which have been bulking up the public finances in recent years.
“While the Draft SPU sets out a broadly positive economic outlook, the government needs to pay particular attention to the risks that it has some control over. These include the loss of competitiveness, the economic impact of the housing crisis and the emerging signs of overheating in the economy.
“I would like to see a strategy for supporting indigenous enterprise, particularly those in the regions. We still do not know what the impact of Brexit will be as an orderly Brexit is still less than certain, and it is quite possible that the negative effects of a hard Brexit have been understated by official reports to date.
“The government needs to do more to support local industry, particularly small businesses in towns and villages in rural areas. Unless measures are put in place the future of these businesses could be at risk”, concluded Cllr. Crowe.
