Rising wage costs main worry for small business

LABOUR costs and taxes have replaced insurance as the main concern for Irish small businesses.

Around 17% of respondents to a new survey of industry conducted by the Small Firms Association said pay rises were their biggest problem this year as Irish labour costs soar to higher than in Europe.

Many firms were also concerned about employment levels with redundancies at a 22-year high. The SFA is expecting 30,000 redundancies this year with manufacturing being the hardest hit sector.