€3.49bn to be spent by Christmas shoppers, say SFA

THE SFA say we are going to shop our socks off this Christmas spending a record €3.49 billion — €18 million an hour — but business gurus Deloitte say it will be a frosty Yule for retailers with spending down 23%.

Regardless of how much people spend Small Firms Association director Pat Delaney wants people to buy more Irish products this year.

“If everyone spent just 60 extra on Irish products the result would be an extra spend of over €100 million on Irish-made products during Christmas.