Irish SMEs feel Government not doing enough for them

In a survey of 540 IT decision makers throughout Ireland, just 24pc said the Government was doing enough for businesses like theirs, compared to 62pc who say the Government is under-delivering.

Just over 20pc of SMEs felt the Government could reduce costs to the sector, by reviewing taxes, travel and childcare, while 17pc wanted the introduction of grants, funding and loans, the Magnet 2016 Regional Business Barometer research found. Despite the significant number who feel the Government is not doing enough, the figure is an improvement on last year when 82pc felt that not enough was being done.

The data also reveals low awareness and uptake of government grants. Only 11pc of IT decision makers are aware of government technology or business grants. The West has the lowest awareness of any grants available for SMEs at 4pc, the highest awareness occurred in the Mid-East at 15pc.

However, overall the survey found that business outlook is good, with 74pc saying they have a positive business outlook for the next 12 months. The business outlook is most positive in the West, at 81pc for Roscommon, Galway and Mayo.

The most negative outlook can be found in the Mid-East region, at 11pc for Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.

Finding candidates with the right skills proved the most difficult challenge in recruiting staff for 37pc of respondents followed by cutbacks in budget at 31pc.

Working from home or on the road has also increased. Almost two-thirds had staff working from home on a regular basis while over half had staff working while on the road.

Article source: Irish Independent