The majoriy of company directors here think infrastructure investment should be the priority in Budget 2026.
A snap poll by the Institute of Directors Ireland, which heard from 385 directors, found that 69% of them wanted investment in infrastructure to be prioritised.
Nearly a quarter hoped for action on energy costs, while 13% were looking for efforts to be focused on simplifying regulation.
"What they're saying is a mix of smart policy, infrastructure investment and streamlining regulation will have a major impact for competitiveness," said Caroline Spillane, CEO of the Institute of Directors Ireland. "So investment in productive infrastructure like energy, housing, transport."
While fixing the problem was not the top priority for most, 67% of directors said their regulatory burden was stifling growth and competitiveness.
Ms Spillane said this was down to a range of factors - including the timing and scale of recent regulatory change.
"When we got into issues around immediate things that could be done, that's where regulation emerged as a key area," she said.
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"What people are saying is each regulation is very good and well-intentioned in terms of consumer protection - but it's possibly a combination of the pace of regulatory change, the burden and then maybe the transposition of EU laws into Irish legislation that is creating quite a lot of complexity and is driving costs into business," she added.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Central Bank have separately warned about planned Budget spending and the risk of over-heating the economy, while the Government has accepted that there needed to be a more moderate approach than in recent years.
Ms Spillane said this was also accepted by directors, who were more focused on long-term spending than short-term supports.
And while many companies were struggling with higher costs, increased regulation and trading uncertainty, the survey also reflected a note of optimism among directors here.
"70% saying by year end they expect growth - over 50% saying they're going to keep staff numbers as is, a third saying they're going to hire which is very positive," said Ms Spillane. "The ways that they're looking to make sure that they're competitive would be around use of generative AI, remodeling products.
"But digital transformation is really the big thing that companies are looking to do."
