Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Chamber has welcomed the €200 million Shared Island provision in Budget 2027, along with a range of measures that respond directly to the DLR Chamber Pre-Budget Submission, A Strategic Partnership Proposal to Government. The Chamber said the year ahead must turn these commitments into delivery on the ground in the county.

Shared Island: an east coast corridor ready to go

The Chamber said the Shared Island provision in the 2027 capital programme is a significant opportunity for the east coast. Through its established partnership with Bangor Chamber of Commerce, DLR Chamber is developing an East Coast Economic Corridor that links two harbour towns and their business communities across the island. The corridor focuses on maritime skills, the Blue Economy, tourism, enterprise and community partnership.

The Chamber’s Pre-Budget Submission proposed a joint Dún Laoghaire–Bangor maritime skills hub as a flagship of that corridor. The Chamber said this is exactly the kind of practical, people-to-people cooperation the Shared Island initiative was created to support. It called on Government to prioritise east coast cross-border projects when the provision is allocated in the Revised Estimates.

Housing, enterprise and the evening economy

On housing, the Chamber welcomed funding to deliver 15,000 new starter homes and 11,250 new social homes in 2027. It also welcomed continued investment in housing-enabling infrastructure through the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund and the Housing Activation Office. The Chamber called for this infrastructure funding to prioritise the more than 13,700 homes planned at Cherrywood, Dundrum Central and the Woodbrook corridor.

For business, the Chamber welcomed the new €500 million Government-guaranteed loan scheme and an additional €4.5 million for Local Enterprise Offices focused on energy efficiency, digitalisation and AI adoption. It also welcomed the 75% Energy Efficiency Grant for SMEs and investment in AI skills through the National Training Fund.

On the evening and night-time economy, the Chamber said that funding for up to 1,000 additional Gardaí and €8 million for Local Community Safety Partnerships will support its work to extend Purple Flag standards across the county.

Colette O’Sullivan, CEO, DLR County Chamber, said:

“The €200 million Shared Island provision is one of the most important signals in this Budget for our county. Our partnership with Bangor Chamber shows what cross-border cooperation looks like in practice: two harbour communities working together on skills, enterprise and the Blue Economy. We have the partnership, the ambition and the projects. We are ready to deliver, and we want Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown at the heart of the Shared Island story on the east coast.“

“There is also real progress here for our 12,087 trading businesses. Better access to finance, support for energy efficiency and investment in digital and AI skills are what our members told us they needed. Now the focus must turn to delivery, especially the enabling infrastructure that thousands of new homes in this county depend on, and dedicated support for Dún Laoghaire Harbour. We will be pressing these points with Ministers in the weeks ahead.”

Frank Shivers, President of Bangor Chamber of Commerce, said:

“We warmly welcome this Shared Island commitment and the opportunity to build on our strong partnership with Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Chamber. Our two harbour communities share an ambition to create jobs, develop maritime skills and grow opportunities in tourism, enterprise and the Blue Economy. Together, we can turn that ambition into practical projects that benefit businesses and communities on both sides of the border. We look forward to working with government and our partners to make the East Coast Economic Corridor a lasting success.”

Dún Laoghaire Chamber recognises that the increase in the minimum wage to €14.94 matters to the many retail and hospitality workers employed across the county, and that the businesses paying it are under real cost pressure. It welcomed the higher employer PRSI threshold for lower-paid workers as a partial offset and called for sector-specific supports so that hospitality and retail employers can sustain jobs and pay. The Chamber also urged Government to keep public transport affordable for the staff who keep the county’s evening and night-time economy running.

The Chamber will discuss these priorities further at its flagship day at the Royal Marine Hotel on 30 October.

ENDS

Notes to editors
DLR County Chamber’s Pre-Budget Submission 2027 set out ten asks spanning housing infrastructure, the Blue Economy, enterprise and SME productivity, thriving towns, demonstration county status, local economic intelligence, SME digital transformation, the Shared Island corridor, tourism, and the evening economy.
County and local figures are drawn from the DLR Bespoke Locale Report (Sunstone, 2026) and the data supplied by a range of stakeholders as part of the Dún Laoghaire purple flag accreditation. Budget figures are from the Budget 2027 Expenditure Report (Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation).