The Government needs to do more to support Dublin’s growth, a leading business group has warned, with housing, transport and electricity services among the biggest issues facing the city.
While close to two-thirds of businesses in the capital expect their revenues to keep increasing, that optimism could yet take a hit if the State does not provide greater access to affordable housing, Dublin Chamber of Commerce president Stephen O’Leary will tell the group’s annual general meeting on Thursday evening.
“Irish workers continue to be negatively impacted by the issues around housing.” Mr O’Leary will say. “The business sector cannot grow or retain talented people if there is nowhere in Dublin for them to live. Young workers are presented with a bleak picture of rising rents, living with parents and a stark reality that home ownership is further away than for any previous generation.”
That will have a knock-on impact on “social cohesion, wellbeing and productivity in the workforce”, he will say. “The Government’s Housing for All strategy is a step towards a more sustainable housing market but is the target sufficient given the demand? We need a more ambitious target for Dublin if Government is to address the deficiencies in the housing market.”
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The chamber, which claims to represent about 1,300 businesses employing more than 300,000 people across greater Dublin, has been vocal on the shortage of housing for some time. There are about 40,000 potential homes in the city that received planning permission but have not been built due to cost issues, it said earlier this month.
Business group Ibec has also flagged the housing shortage as a problem, with more than 70 per cent of companies seeing it as a problem.
Mr O’Leary will also call for planned expansion of Dublin’s public transport system to be delivered “on time and within budget” but for now buses will remain vital. “Active travel and Dublin Bus will be the mainstay of our transport system until the investment plans for Metrolink, Luas and DART are completed,” he will say.
Mr O’Leary will also push for the Government to do more in the way of supports for companies transitioning to more efficient energy use as the country aims to slash emissions. “For individual firms the challenge remains the high capital cost of investing in new and improved technologies to reduce emissions,” he will say.
He will also sharpen calls for a capital-gains tax for indigenous firms to be slashed to 20 per cent from the current 33 per cent rate. “More must be done to support entrepreneurs who take a personal risk to develop the indigenous firms of the future,” he will say.
