‘The shock to the system will affect us for years to come’
COUNCIL VIEW - JACKIE MAGUIRE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Meath County Council Chief Executive Jackie Maguire is under no illusions regarding the impact of disruption to business and tourism as a result of Covid-19.
“It is an unprecedented shock to the system and one that will affect us all for many years to come.
“Meath is a county with a lot small businesses and they have been greatly affected by what is happening”, she said. “Many businesses are now closed and unfortunately some may never re-open. This has obvious impacts for employment in the county and will have a dramatic effect on our towns and villages and on local communities”.
There are just over 4000 businesses registered with Meath County Council and almost 3,500 of these fall into the small and medium categories. As well as their contribution to the costs of providing services they contribute millions in wages and they help support local shops and services and thousands of other jobs in the wider economy.
“Already the Local Enterprise Office is working hard to support and guide business through this crisis. Our Economic Development team have responded in innovative ways to ensure that new and existing supports continue to be delivered to the business community. All training, mentoring and advice services have been redesigned and all are delivered either on-line or one-to-one via online platforms. New training courses have been developed and rolled out that specifically address issues facing businesses during the pandemic.”
Ms Maguire said the Local Enterprise Office is the first-stop-shop for accessing the new suite of grants, loans and other financial supports that are being rolled out to support businesses of all sizes during these troubled times.
“I would encourage businesses seeking support to contact the LEO who will be only too glad to offer advice and guidance. We also need to recognise that there will be opportunities for new businesses and products when all this is over and already many companies are finding new and innovative ways to work and again this is an area where the LEO can assist.”
“The Council will work with the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and all state agencies to help deliver further supports as things progress. We will work in partnership with our Chambers of Commerce to develop programmes with them to help business recover. “We will liaise closely with Failte Ireland and the local tourism sector to provide guidance and support for tourism and hospitality businesses. We will be sensitive and practical in recognising the problems and challenges that will be faced by every business and I would encourage people to engage with us, our staff are ready and willing to help.”
Ms Maguire said the difficulties being faced by business will have a wider impact on the council's ability to provide services.
“Rates are an important part of local funding and the inevitable loss of income from the business sector will force us to critically examine every service we provide. I have no doubt that Government will support local Councils but the extent of that support is not yet clear and of course there will be many competing demands for central funds. Investment will be needed to get the economy restarted, we cannot simply stop spending but we will have to forensically appraise the impact of every euro we spend and assess how it will aid the recovery and support our communities.
“Right now we are still in the middle of a pandemic and the full impact of all this will not become clear for some time. I am certain it will be dramatic and long lasting and will require all our combined efforts to start and sustain a recovery. But we are a very resilient people, we will bounce back and we in Meath County Council will play our part,” she concluded.