What do Mayo businesses want to see announced today in Budget 2026?

THIS year’s Budget has very much gone under the radar as political eyes have been focused on the presidential election and the rest of us have been sheltering from Storm Amy.

Ahead of the ritual and ceremony of the Minister of Finance and Minister of Public Expenditure taking to their feet in the Dáil chamber and announcing the details of Budget 2026, The Mayo News canvassed the views of Mayo businesses.

One of the few talking points in the run up to this low key budget has been when the VAT rate for food service will decrease from 13.5 percent to 9 percent.

The sector would be “deeply disappointed” if the VAT rate didn’t come down, Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurant Association of Ireland, tells The Mayo News.

A regular visitor to Westport, he states that any delay would result in hardship for the low-margin businesses. We are “very dependent now on that announcement to give confidence and stability to the industry.”

Survival

IN Friends Bistro on Westport’s Bridge Street, Gheorghe Murgulet and Victor Berger would like to see targeted measures for small businesses.

“At the moment, it’s not about making profit. We talk about surviving.”

Last year, a grant towards the rates helped but that is not expected to help this year.

The rising price of beef and lamb has forced them remove the popular meats from their menu and only offer them as specials. They can now see the price of pork rising as well.

Changing dining habits are also having an impact. The resultant increases in prices are seeing diners opting for just a main course, as opposed to a three course meal.

Another cloud on the horizon for businesses is wage inflation. The RAI CEO explains that the combination of a new national wage and pension auto enrolment will result in a “5.5 percent wage inflation that we have to deal with on the first of January across the board. And these are the issues now that businesses are worried about.”

Next door to Friends Bistro, Aodha, Irish Craft and Design’s Aidan Healy will be keeping an eye on whether or not there will be any business supports for utility bills, rents or rates.

Aidan Healy, Owner of AODHA Irish craft & design

He would support a gradual implementation of new labour or pension obligations, so there is time to adjust to the wage inflation that Cummins outlines.

He hopes that there might be some form of relief on operating costs, such as subsidies or credits for energy, or tax breaks for small business overheads. Rates reviews as rate charges have increased annually since he opened in 2023.

He would also like to see a simplification of tax rules or targeted reliefs (eg lower VAT, PRSI rebates, thresholds) so that small shops and businesses are not overwhelmed by red tape.

The website grant ended in December last year and like other small businesses, he would welcome support for a digital transition, including grants or incentives to adopt e-commerce, point of sale upgrades, or inventory systems to help streamline daily operations.

Big focus

CHILDCARE will be big focus for many parents and grandparents alike on Tuesday.

Marita Shannon has worked in the childcare sector for more than 30 years and is the owner of Tigh Na Leanai creche in Kiltimagh.

She wants to see an increase to the core funding for child care providers announced in Budget 2026. She would also like to see the fees set equally across Mayo.

“Our girls that work for us deserve an awful lot more money that we’re paying them, but because of our pay freeze and the prices that we’re charging at the moment, we can’t increase our staff fees.

“They deserve an awful lot more than that. But if I was to go down the route and give them all 17 euros an hour, I’d shut down the business.”

“The business would be shut because, as it is, electricity, our heating, food, insurance have all gone up. Everything has gone up, but we’re still just stuck at the same 2021 pay freeze.”

Shannon is critical of the government, “who are just ignoring us.”

“We’re just glorified baby sitters, as far as they’re concerned. They call us child care practitioners. They don’t want to call us educators, because if they call us educators, they’re going to pay up to pay us like teachers and real educators. But we are actual educators.”

Describing the administration and paperwork involved in complying with Department protocols, she says that having been in business for thirty years, she did “seriously think of finishing up” two or three years ago.

She has kept going as “ I love what I do, and I love the children, and I’ve a lovely bunch of parents.”