Four out of every five firms are concerned at the rising cost pressures facing their business in the light of increased geopolitical uncertainty, according to the Dublin Chamber’s Q1 2025 Business Outlook Survey. The majority of firms (71%) are also critical of existing Government support measures, stating that they are simply insufficient to effectively ease cost pressures.
Aebhric McGibney, Director of Public and International Affairs at Dublin Chamber, said “The focus now is on short term measures to ease costs, such as energy price spikes. These are welcome, but it is essential that they do not come at the expense of long-term strategic priorities. For us, we believe more fundamental reform is required to tackle inbuilt red tape and overengineered bureaucracy and overzealous compliance with regulation. There is an EU commitment to cut administrative burdens by 25% for businesses (and 35% for SMEs) by 2029. We’d like to see Ireland at least match and ideally beat that commitment”.
“Businesses have to contend with a myriad of issues, such as the real-time reporting requirements of expenses and benefits under the Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR). Other key challenges include the overly complex application processes to access grants from Government Departments or State Agencies. Last year, the Revenue Commissioners issued 256 ebriefs in 2025, more than one for every working day of the year. These are just some of the examples cited by businesses of issues that are increasing the administrative burden on them and contributing to the rising cost of doing business”.