Government called on to take urgent action and support ‘the backbone of the Irish economy’
Small and medium businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Photo: Stock image
Irish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have burned through their reserves of cash and favours from suppliers and are heading for a 2012-style crisis with major jobs implications, according to one of the country’s top accountants.
This “silent slowdown” is a major threat to jobs, with unemployment having already crept up from 3.9pc to 4.9pc, according to Neil Hughes, CEO of Azets Ireland, which advises around 4,000 Irish businesses.