Worse to come as exports decrease by €6 billion

IRISH exports fell by €6 billion last year with industry chiefs yesterday warning of worse to come with the possible loss of 35,000 jobs over the next 12 months.

The Irish Exporters’ Association (IEA) claimed it expected a further decline of €7.5bn over the coming year leading to an alarming 35,000 job losses.

John Whelan, IEA chief executive, said: “Such a decline can only be diminished if corrective action is taken immediately.”

The IEA said that 2008 will be remembered for the significant slowdown in the global economy, the banking crisis, the rise of the euro and fall of sterling and the pigmeat crisis — all of which seriously hurt exporters.

The association said Ireland exported €148.2bn worth of goods and services last year, 4% lower than 2007.

And businesses are likely to be hit even harder this year after Dell’s decision to shift manufacturing to a cheaper facility in Poland. The computer giant accounted for 5% of the country’s output.

Mr Whelan claimed exports were being hit by high wage and non-wage costs which have continued to rise faster than the European average.

Labour costs were 32.4% higher in 2007 than at the start of the decade, the IEA claimed.

“When combined with the massive deterioration in currency exchange rates with the UK, our main trading partner, it is easy to see how the competitiveness of Irish exporters continued to be undermined,” said Mr Whelan.

The IEA said Ireland is also the most expensive country in Europe for electricity.