Ian Guider: We can’t afford to delay the inevitable on state supports

The extensive pandemic payments were necessary to keep firms afloat, but now we need to look at the new normal – and which businesses might not survive it

While it has been a good summer for the hospitality and retail sectors, Dublin city centre has been decimated by the lack of workers at their desks and the scarcity of tourists. Picture: Fergal Phillips

In the next few weeks, the government is due to announce plans for how the country will move towards eliminating the remaining Covid-19 restrictions. It won’t quite be the old normality that existed prior to March 2020. As vital as it is for society to return to something approaching the way we lived, it is just as important for the economy.

A raft of data in the past few weeks has shown the extent of ...