The head of Retail Excellence has said that retail businesses are in dire trouble and business confidence is at an all time low.
David Fitzsimons said businesses are returning to legacy rents and the three months rates waiver was not long enough.
He also said stores have severe liquidity issues and are sitting on hundreds of million of euro worth of stock that they will not be able to get rid of.
He said that Christmas would normally be a big time for garden centres but he has spoken to some centres who do not have the liquidity to put in advance orders.
David Fitzsimons said he believed that businesses will struggle on until Christmas, but added that he believes the retail sector will see a significant amount of failures next January and February.
Up to 100,000 people could leave the industry and "end up on the dole", he cautioned.
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On returning back to work, David Fitzsimons said staff are generally agreeable. But he said it is likely that just seven out of ten retail staff would be invited back to work over the coming weeks.
He said that it will cost larger stores up to €7,000 to re-open during phase one, which begins next Monday, as they invest in personal protective equipment (PPE), extra tills and signage.
