Chamber calling on everyone to pull together to ensure businesses open for Christmas

County Meath Chamber is urging everyone to make a focused effort over the next week or so to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and allow for a December re-opening to avoid more permanent job losses.

"We call on the wider community to work with us, reduce your movements and limit social contacts. The Christmas season is essential for local economies and for societal well-being,” says Chief Executive, Paula McCaul.

“Without this opportunity to trade, many businesses will struggle to re-open at all, leaving our high streets, town centres and villages all the poorer and jobs permanently lost.

“Meath people have rallied behind the shop local message.

I'd like to remind you to search our comprehensive Meath Chamber Business Directory which has over 500 opportunities to look for local, either online or instore. It is so important that we stay connected and that we continue to think local!

“We each play an important role in supporting our local economies to re-open at the end of the Level 5 restrictions on 2nd December and to survive thereafter.

“Employers must continue to do what they can to both encourage and support their employees to work remotely. If staff can work from home, then that is the only place they should be working from.

“Government is reviewing the data from NPHET over the coming week and determining its next steps. We await this decision, and welcome early engagement and collaboration with chambers across the country to suitably prepare businesses for resuming trading.

“However, as a chambers network we are concerned about the lack of an exit strategy that avoids recurrent waves of opening and closing the economy.

“We have repeatedly warned that the worst-case scenario for local economies and the business community would be to enter a series of sawtooth lockdowns and re-openings. This sort of scenario contributes to significant additional costs on businesses associated with reopening and restocking. With limited capital reserves, and no appetite for new debt under such uncertainty, many businesses may not be able to continue trading after a further round of closures.

“Government must ensure that over the coming days and weeks, sufficient resources be made available to the public health authorities to create an effective programme to test, trace and isolate new cases.

This must be coupled with local interventions to limit the impact of future outbreaks, and the development of capacity within the health service to cope with increased demands on our critical care services,” Ms McCaul concluded.