Irish Insolvency Figures Continue to Increase: Up 8% During 2010
Ireland’s economy continues to experience recession issues, including an ever-increasing insolvency rate for small and medium-sized businesses in the country. The amount of Irish businesses declaring insolvency rose by eight percent throughout 2010 – a startling increase given Ireland’s reputation as a suitable local for large businesses. Construction and other industries appear to be hit the hardest.
There were close to 1,600 insolvencies in Ireland during 2010 – a sizeable although less damaging than predicted increase from 2009 figures. The increase in insolvencies has been linked to a major change in the country’s business environment, with infrastructure-based businesses in construction and other sectors losing income due to a lack of major projects and slow business expansion which resulted in these companies going in for pre pack administration.
Alongside the increase in insolvencies was a similar increase in the amount of redundancies seen in Ireland. Over fifty-eight-thousand people were made redundant during 2010, many of whom used to work as part of a small or medium-sized business in the country. The downturn in employment was, just like the increase in insolvencies, most prominent in Ireland’s construction industry.
At this point, the bulk of the country’s insolvencies have been due to increase business spending on infrastructure and development. But economic experts believe that the next step is a similar decline in the amount of consumer spending carried out. Retail businesses and tourism-based companies in Ireland may be the next to suffer due to lowered consumer spending and a decrease in holidayers.
There’s also likely to be a long-term change in lending throughout the country, due to the amount of bad debts left behind by failed businesses. Investors, many of whom had planned on steady growth, have been left with just a fraction of their arranged repayments. This could cause problems for new businesses seeking financing for expansion and business development.