I am a member of an Economics Forum and they have issued a warning for Irish Business due to the costs of Electricity and Heating bills .They say that the Night Time economy will contract as City Centers empty out earlier .They recon that Shops will close early 6Pm and stop late night shopping to save on Fuel costs and cut back on staff .They also say if the City Centers empty out earlier then Transport providers Like Bus ,Rail ,Luas can cut back on services to save fuel .Effectively going back to how it was in the 1970s or 80s .They recon late night shoppers are not planned shoppers they just shop because the shops are open and they will shop anyway during opening hours so no great loss of business for shop owners .
They also warn of the real unemployment rate .At the moment Ukranian Refugees receive a welfare payment that is not fully funded and will at some time have to be transferred on to fully funded programmes like Lone parents or Unemployment Payments .They forecast that by adding tens of thousands on to the Unemployment figures (available to work ) that wage inflation will be kept under control .Their forecast is for 6% less discressionary spending this year .that would include ,Pubs ,Cinemas ,Restaurants ,Night Clubs .Minister Martin from the Greens is aware of this and has been seeking funding to help stimulate the Night Time economy by sponsoring Gigs and musicians .The Forum thinks this is wasted money .On the extension of Closing Times they think it would not be welcomed by most Publicans or Restaurants as it would only suit the Big players and force the Small Pubs customers to choose a late night venue over the traditional pub .They also say the added costs of Staff,Heating ,Light and Insurance would make it financially unviable .They say that elongated opening hours in Pubs would not increase overall spending in pubs just increase the time it takes the publican to empty your wallett .The case that Tourists want late night bars is not made .Apart from UK stag parties or Sporting events the average Tourist consumes 3.2 alcoholic drinks per Day .(One of them is consumed in the Guinness Storehouse )
In their value for money survey .Ireland scores good for Food .Fair for the Cost of Drinks but poor for Hotel costs and QUALITY and desperate for transport links costs and ease of movement .I doubt somebody paying monster coin to stay in the Westbury or Shelbourne wants to get around Dublin by Bike or E Scooter or worse visit Donegal how would you get around there without a very expensive rental car .
Be interesting to see how much they get right .I fill in an online survey answering questions I would not answer for a government survey .Personal questions like earnings ,spending and savings .I also help to collate the information .We see it on here people posting one off earnings if the Figures I am seeing in the Surveys are true after the great Festival Fever of earlier this year and the big getaway is over and after Garth Brooks in September things will come to a big stop .Covid Coin and Twiss helped a lot of businesses stay in business but that has stopped .A lot of firms deferred tax payments until this year so expect a lot of businesses to close before the end of the tax year .
A lot of moving parts in this .It might be worth considering before you commit to borrowing big coin for a replacement vehicle .
If they have this right Joe Duffy is wrong there are too many taxis
