Business
Ability West praised for world class standards
Galway charity Ability West has proven its pedigree in its work through many guises – but now it can add international recognition for its health and safety record.
The charity was one of 30 private, public and SME sector organisations receiving awards recently from the Minister for Small Business, John Perry, at NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland).
The Galway based charity joined the likes of Dawn Meats, Datapac, the Fire & Rescue Services of both Carlow and Clare in achieving world class standards under a range of headings including Health and Safety Management, Environmental Management, Medical Devices Quality Management Systems and Excellence Through People – the national human resources management scheme.
Ability West received certification to NSAI’s Excellence through People (ETP) scheme. The company provides services and supports to over 520 individuals with intellectual disability throughout Galway city and county and aims to provide quality supports and services to children and adults, in line with the Vision and Mission Statements and Strategic Plan 2014 – 2018.
The mission is to provide an individual and holistic service to each person availing of the services, with each person supported and valued within an environment which promotes their overall autonomy, health and wellbeing and enables them to reach their potential.
The Minister joined Maurice Buckley, Chief Executive of NSAI to present the awards, congratulate the attendees, and recognise their important investment in standards.
“Finding a competitive advantage is crucial for businesses both at home and abroad and the impressive organisations here today show that companies believe that standards really do give their business that advantage.
“Companies are investing in standards because they can see the return on investment and are seeing the benefits. Standards can open up doors to new opportunities for business and in and many cases these companies present today have already seen this and are representing Ireland on the international stage,” said Minister Perry.
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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