This month, Dublin Chamber met with the new Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Daryl Barron, to discuss our priorities for a thriving city and business environment. We emphasised the importance of maintaining a strong focus on safety and security to support a safer, more vibrant city for businesses, employees, residents and visitors, alongside the need for greater activation of vacant sites to help deliver affordable housing across the region. We also discussed the need to strengthen Dublin’s international connectivity and global links, supporting businesses to maintain and expand their presence in overseas markets. We wish the Lord Mayor every success during his term and look forward to working with him.

Following our Pre-Budget meeting with Minister of State Robert Troy last month, Dublin Chamber provided further evidence in support of our call to place Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) financing supports on an ongoing, or “evergreen”, basis. We highlighted persistent structural challenges in the SME finance market, including high borrowing costs, limited competition and barriers to accessing finance. An evergreen SBCI mechanism would provide a permanent means of addressing these market frictions for SMEs, while enabling Government to respond more effectively to changing economic conditions and future shocks. Read our letter here.

Looking ahead, Dublin Chamber will meet with Clare Mungovan, Special Adviser to Tánaiste Simon Harris, next week as we continue our Pre-Budget campaign. In early September, we will also meet with a number of Dublin TDs, including Maeve O’Connell and Emer Currie, to discuss our Budget priorities and the key issues affecting businesses across the region.

If there are any issues you would like us to raise as part of these engagements, please get in touch at policy@dublinchamber.ie.