Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) has launched a "Cut PRSI, Keep Jobs" campaign calling on the Government to reduce employers' PRSI in Budget 2027, a demand that matters to institute professionals as it quantifies a specific fiscal cost the sector says is now driving measurable job losses rather than simply squeezing margins. The campaign seeks an employer PRSI band of 8 per cent on the first 36,000 euro of wages, falling to 5 per cent by 2029, alongside zero employer PRSI for workers under 25.

REI is the largest representative body for the retail industry in Ireland, representing member businesses across the sector.

The campaign responds to measurable deterioration in retail finances rather than a routine pre-budget submission.

Retail insolvencies rose 35 per cent in the first half of 2026 alone, now accounting for one in four Irish business failures, according to PwC. REI's own member survey found 91 per cent reporting reduced profitability and 59 per cent having already cut jobs or hours, with the trade body estimating 10,800 fewer retail jobs compared with the same period last year.

REI chief executive Jean McCabe said, "The retail industry has been under the most intense pressure from a range of cost pressures in recent times, and wage costs are the primary issue. The industry is now seeing a rapid increase in insolvencies because of these pressures, so Government must now act unless it wants to see more businesses fail." She added that employers' PRSI is due to rise again from 1 October.

For the sector, framing the ask as offsetting an already legislated increase, rather than blocking a future one, follows a pattern the Government has twice accepted in principle by pausing statutory sick pay expansion and delaying the Living Wage. For the sector's youngest workers specifically, the zero PRSI proposal for under-25s targets a cohort making up an estimated four in ten young workers nationally within retail alone.

Whether the campaign secures inclusion in Budget 2027, rather than another deferral, will determine whether retail's job loss trend stabilises or continues into next year.

Source: Retail News / PwC