As the impact of the vaccine rollout continues to show promise, County Tipperary Chamber calls on Irish businesses to be flexible in facilitating employees to receive their vaccine. County Tipperary Chamber CEO Michelle Aylward said, “As the National Vaccination Programme moves to vaccinate people in their 40s and younger, businesses in Ireland can show continued leadership by communicating their encouragement to staff and supporting them to receive their vaccine at the earliest opportunity. Employers have demonstrated excellent commitment in their support of public health measures and have an important role to play in the months ahead. Vaccination is our only viable route out of the pandemic and we must act decisively to ensure it continues at pace. By clearly communicating to staff that you support their vaccination and will be flexible in allowing them to take time off during working hours, you can reduce hesitancy and help society and the economy return to normal faster. A safe return to the workplace and stable economic growth will only happen when there is a high level of protection among the population.” “As is now clear to us all, the extent of community stretches far beyond our borders in a pandemic. Ireland’s vaccination effort is only one part of a much greater whole, and more support must be given to global vaccination efforts. If a global approach to ending the pandemic is not prioritised, the risk of a faltering recovery will increase. This has the potential to lead to entrenched loss of life and disruption to economies and supply chains for years to come. Peter Power, Executive Director of UNICEF Ireland said, “No one is safe until we are all safe. COVID-19 spikes occurring around the world and the emergence of variants threaten us all. That’s why UNICEF has taken on to procure and supply 2 billion vaccines to vulnerable populations worldwide. “It’s a mammoth task, but we are confident we can achieve it – with the help of the Irish public. We’ve launched the Get a Vaccine Give a Vaccine campaign to give every adult an opportunity to come together in support of global vaccine equity – taking part is an act of solidarity. Visit unicef.ie to join the historic movement to end COVID-19.” Michelle Aylward CEO

Today, Michelle Aylward, CEO of the County Tipperary Chamber of Commerce has announced an extension of two weeks to the deadline of the Tipperary Business Awards.
Online applications will be accepted at www.countytipperarychamber.com until Friday, 18th of June. The extension is a public acknowledgement of all the hard work that so many  Tipperary businesses have been putting in over recent weeks to get their businesses reopened in line with public health guidelines. 
Speaking on behalf of the County Tipperary Chamber of Commerce, CEO, Michelle Aylward said “We felt that with so many businesses simply too busy preparing to reopen in recent weeks, it was only fair to extend the deadline.
We have had an amazing reaction to the awards this year with a record number of applications received however, some categories which traditionally are the first to fill like Best in Retail and Best in Food, Beverage and Hospitality were notably slower than normal, a sure sign that the focus of such businesses was on reopening.
We conducted some research and the result was that if businesses had more time to get open and properly up and running, they would be in a better position to enter the awards.
​There was a very strong appetite for an extension so we are pushing out the deadline for applications by a further two weeks to Friday, June 18th and wish all those who have and those who are about to reopen the very best of luck with it.”
The Chamber also took the opportunity to encourage not just those reopening to apply but any Tipperary based business to submit an application online with Aylward commenting “There are thirteen categories you can enter and it will take about ten minutes to apply online via our website www.countytipperarychamber.com. It is completely free to enter so that ten minutes you set aside to apply could be the best decision you make for your business all year!”
In addition to these, there are thirteen unique sponsors on board to recognise excellence in their awards category and these include; Best Employer sponsored by County Tipperary Skillnet, Best in Corporate Social Responsibility Awards sponsored by Infosys Ireland, Best in Sustainability sponsored by MSD Ireland, Best in Retail sponsored by Showgrounds Shopping Centre, Best in Micro Business sponsored by Medite, Best Not for Profit sponsored by Abbott Ireland, S.M.E of the Year Award sponsored by A.I.B., Best Start-Up or New Emerging Business sponsored by Local Enterprise Office Tipperary, Best in Tourism, Sports, Art and Culture sponsored by C&C Group, Best in Marketing Excellence sponsored by O’Gorman, Brannigan, Purtill & Co., Best in Food, Beverage and Hospitality sponsored by ABP Food Group, Best in Technology and Innovation sponsored by Sepam and Best Large Business sponsored by Camida while the Wrap Party is sponsored by Red PR & Communications. 

County Tipperary Chamber welcomes extended eligibility of Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID (SBASC) County Tipperary Chamber has today (18 May 2021) welcomed the announcement by Government that businesses which operate from non-rateable premises will now be eligible to apply for the €60m Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID (SBASC). Speaking today, County Tipperary Chamber CEO Michelle Aylward responded to the announcement, “This news will come as a great relief to those business owners who have been in desperate need of assistance for over a year. County Tipperary Chamber has consistently called for the eligibility of COVID financial schemes to be widened. The government’s decision to act today could have come sooner but will make an immediate difference. However, there is still more that must be done to support business owners and their staff. While we have a broad idea of how the economy will reopen, there is still too much uncertainty on the extent and duration of current supports, such as wage supports, rates waivers and debt warehousing. This is causing unnecessary anxiety among our members and delaying decisions which impact their futures. The devastating economic impact of COVID means that many businesses will require some degree of financial support for the rest of the year. As we approach June and near the cut-off point for schemes currently in place, the Government must provide a detailed path forward so that businesses can plan for the rest of the year. A July Stimulus, in a similar vein to last year, can provide these necessary guarantees.”

​ENDS

A Sustainable Re-Opening Must Be The Objective, says County Tipperary Chamber following announcement on end of Level Five Restrictions


County Tipperary Chamber welcomes this evening’s (27 November) announcement from Government regarding the end of Level Five Restrictions which will allow the reopening of parts of the economy from next Wednesday the 2 December.
Speaking after the announcement, Chamber CEO Michelle Aylward said, “This evening’s announcement from Government will be widely welcomed by our members.
The importance of the Christmas period for local economies cannot be understated. In the lead-up to this evening’s announcement our members have been strongly supporting shop local campaigns in their communities. We call on the wider community to work with us and be conscious of limiting social contacts throughout the Christmas period.
As we proceed towards a lower level of restrictions, we want to remind the wider business community to avoid complacency and continue to interpret the restrictions conservatively, ensuring that any unnecessary congregation is reduced. If staff can work from home, then that is the only place they should be working from.
Finally, as a network, we continue to have concerns about the medium-term strategy for ensuring that the re-opening of local economies is sustainable. The “sawtooth” scenario we previously warned about (involving a series of stop-go restrictions in response to virus transmission) is not a sensible approach to managing the economy.
That scenario leads to significant additional business costs associated with reopening and restocking. With limited capital reserves, and no appetite for new debt under ongoing uncertainty, many businesses will not be able to continue trading after a further round of closures in early 2021.
Most importantly Government must ensure that:
• Public health authorities are adequately resourced so that we can limit the consequences of future outbreaks.
• We implement an effective programme which tests, traces, and isolates new cases as they emerge in the community
• Early local interventions are used to quickly restrict future outbreaks, and
​• We develop sufficient capacity within the health service to cope with increased demands on our critical care services”