Irish Newsagents and Grocers Demand PRSI Cut in Budget 2027

The Irish trade group RGDATA is pressing the government for significant relief on employment costs in the upcoming Budget 2027, arguing that newsagents and small grocers need these measures to remain viable. Representing over 3,000 family-owned convenience stores, forecourts, and supermarkets, RGDATA has submitted proposals to the Department of Finance.

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Mechanisms need to be developed to compel insurers to reduce premiums and pass on the benefit of cost savings that have been secured by the industry through the programme for insurance reform.

The submission highlights that these businesses are labor-intensive and have experienced a staggering 39 percent increase in employment costs since 2021. This rise is attributed to government initiatives such as increases in the national minimum wage, mandated sick pay, and the costs associated with auto-enrolment pension schemes.

RGDATA proposes a targeted reduction in the employer PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance) rate for small businesses. Specifically, they seek a decrease from 9 percent to 7.5 percent for weekly earnings up to €552, and from 11.25 percent to 9 percent for earnings exceeding that threshold.

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Our members are vital for local communities, they provide good jobs and are the glue that holds communities together. Between huge increases in red-tape burden, fuel inflation, insurance costs, this has been a really challenging few years for our members.

Furthermore, the group is urging the government to help retailers reduce their insurance expenses, which they describe as "stubbornly high" for both public and employers' liability coverage. RGDATA director general Tara Buckley emphasized that reducing the cost of doing business is the top priority for her members. She noted that the state-established Cost of Business Advisory Forum is expected to release its final report soon, and its recommendations will require budgetary action to be implemented effectively. Buckley warned that without such measures, government commitments on business costs would prove meaningless.

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If Budget 2027 does not enact the budgetary measures identified in the Cost of Business Advisory Forum Report 2027, then the commitments in the Programme for Government on business costs and the comments of the Taoiseach and senior ministers will be counted as purely aspirational and worthless in practical terms.