SFA boss calls for freeze on business costs

The chairman of the Small Firms Association Pat Crotty has said that restoring business competitiveness has the potential to "lead the economy out of this recession".

Mr Crotty was speaking to TDs and Senators on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment this morning.

He said pay and non-pay costs (fuel, waste, rents) had all hit businesses.

"It is imperative that the Government addresses the competitiveness challenges facing Irish business. In particular, it must ensure that nothing is done to add to what has become an unsustainably high-cost business structure in the Irish economy," he said.