The Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland today welcomed the statement by the Government that it has agreed to base Budget 2020 on the assumption of a no-deal exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union at the end of October.
Last Friday, the IoD published its latest Director Sentiment Monitor, a quarterly survey of its members, which found that 89% of senior business leaders think ‘the Government should deliver a conservative Budget in October in expectation of a no-deal Brexit’.
The Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland is the membership body representing 3,000 directors and business leaders.
Maura Quinn, CEO, IoD Ireland, said:
"Our latest Director Sentiment Monitor survey shows that the uncertainty evident over the past twelve months has intensified in the last quarter and that business leaders’ optimism in the economy has dropped 31% year-on-year. The message is clear: Irish business leaders are worried, and they want the Irish Government to take note and deliver accordingly in next month’s Budget, which is just weeks before the current Brexit deadline."
Other Brexit-related findings in the IoD’s Director Sentiment Monitor for Q2 2019 include:
- 63% of business leaders admit that the continued Brexit uncertainty has ‘impacted their organisation’s strategic planning’.
- 92% of business leaders believe that Brexit’s impact on the Irish economy will be negative in the short-term (up from 89% in Q1 2019), with 58% believing it will be negative in the long term (an increase from 56% in Q1 2019).
- ‘The effects of Brexit’ (26%) and ‘political/economic uncertainty’ (23%) as the two biggest risk factors facing business leaders' primary organisation.
- There has been a sharp decrease in business leaders anticipating opportunities for growth in the UK market (30% in Q1 to 20% in Q2).
- Interestingly, 67% of business leaders say they are ‘sufficiently prepared’ for Brexit, but this is a drop of 4% on the first quarter in 2019.
Maura Quinn added:
"The dramatic fall in business confidence is reflected throughout our survey and the Budget is an opportunity for the Government to listen to those concerns and deliver an appropriate Budget."
For more information read the full report: Director Sentiment Monitor (Q2) 2019.