Almost two-thirds of businesses expect to recover from the Covid-19 crisis within one year, and a further 31% within two years, according to a survey by KPMG.

The survey was conducted during a webinar on ‘Getting Beyond the Crisis – Strategies for Irish Business’ attended by more than 240 senior executives covering retail, food, real estate, financial services, construction, healthcare, medtech and telecoms. 

Only 5% of the respondents said their businesses would take more than two years to recover.

Guest speaker at the event was Danny McCoy, chief executive of Ibec, joined on the panel by KPMG partners Michele Connolly, David O’Kelly and Owen Lewis.  

KPMG managing partner Seamus Hand commented: “As a business community, we have already played a significant role in managing the crisis. The very act of closing our doors, and working from home for those of us who could, has contributed to minimising the impact of the pandemic on these shores.  We are now in a better and more stable place and can now get beyond the crisis to focus on the revival of what was and can be a strong Irish economy.”

In Association with

Two thirds of the KPMG sample believe their business model will be permanently changed as a result of the pandemic. Nine out of ten said they plan to increase investment in digitalisation as a result of the Covid-19 experience, while one in three expect this investment to increase significantly.

Public Private Partnership

McCoy told those attending: “This could be a relatively shallow recession for Ireland. I expect a real surge in the second half of the year if we can get consumer confidence back. Ireland has been generationally involved in globalisation over the years and I believe we will be able to double down on our existing advantages. 

“Companies are here because it’s a good business proposition and they will stay as long as that continues.  If there is one thing that comes out of the pandemic that would be a real benefit, it would be greater use of public private partnerships.  We need business leaders to lead the social dialogue in that regard. 

“It’s not like the social partnership which we had before. We need to find ways of channeling money from the private to the public sector to deliver the housing and public services that people require.”