Small and medium businesses are waiting an average of a record 73 days to get paid for the services they provide from clients, including the Government.
According to a survey from the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, fewer than one in four companies (23%) are being paid within 30 days while 45% are experiencing delays of 90 days or more. A further 15% are waiting over 120 days, an increase of 10% from ISME's Spring survey.
ISME says the situation is deteriorating as the delays have increased from 60 days in Autumn of 2007 to the current 'excessive' 73 days. Adding to the problem, it says the banks are, in the main, refusing to extend credit limits to assist SME's cash flow.
ISME has accused the Government of dereliction of duty in the struggle to ensure prompt payments fro SMEs from big business and state bodies.
'The recent announcement that Government had approved formal arrangements to reduce the payment period by Government departments to this business suppliers from 30 to 15 days is purely a sop from the Tánaiste and does little to assistt,' commented ISME chief executive Mark Fielding.
'The 'do nothing' Government approach 'will hasten the demise of many small enterprises and throw more workers on the dole,' he added.
