The Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association has called on the new Government to tackle the issue of how long small businesses are waiting to be paid for their services.
The ISME Credit Watch Survey for spring 2011 shows clearly that smaller enterprises are being placed under severe pressure by deliberately delayed payments.
ISME chief executive Mark Fielding said that when small businesses are not being paid on time, they can not in turn pay their suppliers and this leads to a domino effect. This ends with the most vulnerable companies closing down, he warned.
The ISME survey found that 44% of small businesses are experiencing delays of three months or more in waiting to be paid for services provided.
The survey shows that construction firms are waiting 87 days to get paid, while wholesale industies are seeing the shortest term at 61 days.
'For far too long this issue has been ignored by previous administrations and prompt action would now clearly demonstrate the new Government's willingness to tackle the problem and assist small business, a sector that has contributed so much to the development of the economy,' Mark Fielding said.
