‘Resurgence of optimism’ among Irish business leaders, IoD reveals

The lifting of health restrictions along with the rollout of the national vaccination programme has triggered a major resurgence in business confidence. That's according to a survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland.

It found that 61 per cent of directors were “more optimistic” with regard to the Irish economy in the second quarter compared with 30 per cent in the first quarter, when the Government’s vaccination programme got off to a stuttering start.

The IoD study suggest that 71 per cent of business leaders believed the financial performance of their respective organisations would improve in the following quarter, compared with just 44 per cent previously.

"We are seeing a resurgence of optimism among business leaders," IoD chief executive Maura Quinn said.

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“ The lifting of many public health restrictions in recent months along with the rollout of the national vaccination programme are playing their part,” she said.

“Crucially, these positive developments are being mirrored in our key overseas markets and our research reveals optimism with regard to potential market growth opportunities in the EU and US markets, in particular,” Ms Quinn said.

Performance

“That positivity is also reflected in the finding that only 3 per cent of respondents signified that they were not expecting any growth in market opportunities during the third quarter of the year. Many of the trends in our research findings have an upward trajectory, which is good news,” she added.

The IoD survey, which was based on the opinions of 226 business directors here in late June and early July, also found that the effect of the Government’s performance on consumer confidence and on business decision-making has seen marked increases in positive sentiment.

With respect to consumer confidence, 49 per cent of business leaders believe the effect of the Government’s performance to be positive, up from 17 per cent previously.

In relation to the effect of the Government’s performance on decision-making, 38 per cent of business leaders believed it to be positive, also up from 17 per cent.

It was notable, however, that 40 per cent of the survey respondents judged the impact of the Government’s performance on their decision-making as having “no effect”.