Almost a quarter of Irish businesses ceased trading temporarily due to Covid crisis, figures reveal

Almost a quarter of businesses in Ireland shut down temporarily due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, new figures have revealed.

With the country on lockdown, the construction and tourism industries have almost come to a standstill while many restaurants are only operating a takeaway service for customers.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office revealed that over a one-month period from mid-March to mid-April, 23% of businesses ceased trading while almost three-quarters reported that their turnover was negatively affected by the outbreak.

The CSO's study found:

• 23% of enterprises ceased trading temporarily during the period March 16 to April 19
• 70% of businesses have seen turnover negatively impacted
• 69% of businesses have implemented some form of remote working
• 35% of enterprises have let staff temporarily go
• 32% have decreased working hours

“The results show that of the enterprises that responded to the Business Impact of Covid-19 Survey, 23.3% had ceased trading temporarily during the period March 16 to April 19, 0.6% had ceased trading permanently, and 76.0% continued to trade," CSO statistician Colin Hanley outlined.

Mr Hanley added that the impact of the virus has varied from sector to sector.

"In construction, 70.8% of enterprises had ceased trading either temporarily or permanently, while in accommodation and food services 88.1% had ceased trading.

"Of the Government supports available to businesses, 47.1% said they had utilised the Revenue Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, while 51.6% stated that they had not availed of any supports.

The online survey was sent to a sample of 3,000 businesses and the information was collected last week, the CSO says.