CCI says Government to blame for rising costs

Rising costs which are "Government managed" are the greatest threat to Ireland's competitiveness, the Chamber of Commerce of Ireland (CCI) said today.

Speaking before the organisation's AGM, which takes place later today, CCI President Mr Mark Staunton said businesses were being by "an unprecedented catalogue of increases in areas which are largely government managed."

"Electricity costs have soared by over 25 per cent for a medium-sized business in the past 21 months; VHI premiums have jumped by over 26 per cent in the past year alone and the minimum wage is set to increase by 10 pee cent from 1st February next," he said.

He added the cost of waste disposal continued to rise and some businesses have had to face triple digit increases in insurance premiums over the past two years.

"I want to send a clear message to Government today. Wake up and smell the coffee before more businesses in Ireland are ground down under the weight of these rising costs," Mr Staunton said.

"Shedding crocodile tears at redundancy announcements are not enough. The Government must realise that it is currently the biggest threat to restoring Ireland's competitiveness.

"It should start by facing the issue of benchmarking which must be linked to higher productivity and a meaningful cut in public sector staff numbers to minimise the crowding out effect of the pay award on the public finances."

CCI is Ireland's largest business organisation with 53 member chambers representing over 11,000 businesses throughout Ireland, as well as over 40 corporate and associate members.

The group's AGM will take place in the Devenport Hotel in Dublin at 2.30 p.m.