9 November 2015
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Cork South Central Labour Party TD Ciarán Lynch has welcomed the findings of a Retail Ireland report today, which shows that retailers are set to have the best Christmas period since 2008.
Deputy Lynch commented: “The findings of the Retail Ireland report are extremely positive for the retail sector and the Irish economy overall. The report shows that people are confident about spending money over the Christmas period because of income tax cuts announced in Budget 2016, which will take effect in January.
“The Retail Ireland report expects that retail sales for December will hit €40.5bn, which amounts to a 3.5% increase on the same period last year. This would represent the best Christmas period for the retail sector since 2008. This is very encouraging for retailers because the Christmas period accounts for 30% of their annual trade.
“The findings of the Retail Ireland report are a further vote of confidence in the Irish economic recovery. Just 5 years ago consumer sentiment was at an all-time low, people were too afraid to spend money because they were fearful of their losing jobs. The findings of this year’s Retail Ireland report show that the economic recovery is being made to feel real for the public.”
