MORE THAN half the members of the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) have let staff go over the past year, according to a survey it commissioned.

Members said 70 per cent of their turnover in the last 12 months came from exports and over 40 per cent of turnover came from the EU alone.

Commenting on the survey, IEA chief executive John Whelan said it was vital that the Government gave serious attention to resurrecting Ireland’s export industry which he believes is central to restoring economic growth in Ireland.

While he very much welcomed the €250 million Temporary Employment Subsidy Scheme for exporters as part of the Government’s new national recovery measures, he said guidelines on how to apply for funds must be made available to exporters immediately.

“The main issue at the moment is the speed at which this measure can be introduced.

“There are hundreds of vulnerable companies who right now are deciding whether they can afford to keep staff in work or not.

‘‘Time is not on their side, and any delay in the scheme will be critical for them and their workers.”

The IEA leader stressed that there were two other key issues that needed to be delivered on if Ireland is to have a strong export industry: export credit insurance and competitiveness.

“I am urging the Government to complete its work on the export credit insurance review as soon as possible, and to enter the market with the private sector to ensure Irish exporters are not disadvantaged in their international trade finance requirements.”

On competitiveness, Mr Whelan said exporters were under a lot of pressure from falling consumer demand globally, credit worthiness, currency fluctuations, new regulations and rising costs.

He said that for the past eight years the bulk of new jobs created in Ireland were in domestically trading sectors, with 65 per cent of new jobs being created in the public services and construction arenas.