*Ennis Retail staff Robyn Slattery, Michaella Clancy and Aoife Tubridy standing behind the REI Pre Budget Campaign. Photograph by Eamon Ward
CLARE retailers and staff have joined a national campaign calling for a cut to employers’ PRSI in Budget 2027 to protect jobs in the sector.
Retailers and staff gathered in Ennis this Thursday, September 10 as part of Retail Excellence Ireland’s ‘Cut PRSI, Keep Jobs’ campaign, which was launched at locations across the country.
The campaign is calling on Government to reduce employer PRSI rates, introduce zero employer PRSI for workers under 25 and review the methodology used to calculate the living wage.
From October 1, employers’ PRSI rates are set to increase to 9.15% on weekly earnings up to €552, rising to 11.4% on earnings above that threshold.
Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) said 91% of its members have reported reduced profitability, while 59% have already cut jobs or hours in the past year due to sustained cost pressures.
The organisation estimates that around 400,000 retail hours per week have been cut over the past year, equating to 10,800 fewer jobs in the sector compared with the same period last year.
Retail insolvencies have also increased by 35% in the first half of 2026, according to figures cited by REI from PwC.
REI is seeking the introduction of an employer PRSI band of 8% on the first €36,000 of every wage, reducing to 5% by 2029.
It estimates this would be worth around €1,000 per full-time employee next year, rising to approximately €2,000 by 2029.
The organisation is also calling for zero employer PRSI for workers under 25.
It estimates that retail employs around 81,000 workers under the age of 25, accounting for four in 10 young workers nationally.
REI estimates that removing employer PRSI for these workers would make each young employee’s job around €1,270 cheaper to sustain, at an estimated cost to the State of €105 million for the retail sector.
Speaking as the campaign launched, REI CEO Jean McCabe said retailers were under “the most intense pressure” from a range of rising costs, with wage costs being a primary concern.
“The industry is now seeing a rapid increase in insolvencies because of these pressures, so Government must now act unless it wants to see more businesses fail,” she said.
Ms McCabe said the campaign demonstrated how widely the issue was being felt “in towns right across the country”.
“We’re asking every TD, in every constituency, to back this ask,” she said.
“And we’re asking Tánaiste Simon Harris, as Minister for Finance, to introduce it directly in Budget 2027.”
