Retail sector in Ireland

The retail sector is the largest private sector employer in the country and is an important part of the domestic economy. Retail is classified under Eurostat G47 NACE Classification.

Retail Forum
Legislation
Retail sector resources
Government consultations
Retail sector study
Retail statistics
Related information

Featured: Deposit Return Scheme

The new Deposit Return Scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans will go live in February 2024. Deposit Return Scheme Ireland CGL (trading as Re-turn) will operate the scheme.

Details of supports for retailers, as well as other useful information to help retailers prepare for the scheme are available at Retailers - Re-turn. Also available is a presentation from Re-turn’s take back exemptions webinar (PDF) held on 24 August 2023.

Retail Forum

The Retail Forum was established in June 2014. The purpose of the forum is to allow key issues of relevance to the retail sector to be discussed, with a view to identifying practical actions which could be taken by government, or by industry itself, to support the sector with particular emphasis on achieving sustainable jobs growth in the sector.

The forum meets on a quarterly basis. View minutes of meetings of the Retail Forum held since June 2014 and recent presentations made at Retail Forum meetings.

Membership of the Retail Forum includes retail representative bodies, retailers, the City and County Managers Association and government departments.

For the purposes of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015, the Retail Forum is obliged to comply with the Transparency Code as it is exempted from registering on the Lobbying Register. This also applies to any working group set up by the forum. The Retail Forum Terms of Reference outlines how the forum operates. See also, the Retail Forum's Privacy Notice.

For queries in relation to the Retail Forum please contact retail@enterprise.gov.ie.

Retail Forum Working Groups

Three working groups were convened in 2022 to drive actions in the Retail Forum’s Work Programme:

Future of Retail – Town Centre First/Night-time Economy
Focus is to support relevant policy implementation of the Town Centre First Policy and the Report of the Night-Time Economy Task Force.
Future of Retail – Digitalisation and Skills
Focus on driving digitalisation of the sector and working to support skills development.
Future of Retail – Green Transition
Focus on driving best practice sustainability in the retail sector.

The Retail Forum Working Groups Terms of Reference outlines how they operate.

Membership of the working groups comprises of Retail Forum members and additional external practitioners who have a particular expertise or interest in an area under discussion.

The working groups are chaired by officials from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Secretariat is provided by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Legislation

Legislation relevant to the retail sector

Retail sector resources

Tailored guidance for retailers about available government schemes and supports:

Energy and Sustainability: Government schemes and resources for retailers

Energy Efficiency Guide for Retailers - SEAI (PDF, 24MB)

Health and safety in retail - HSA

Simple safety in retailing - HSA

HSA retail publications

Guidelines for businesses on price reduction announcement obligations - CCPC

Education and training courses for retail

Leading the Way

Skills for Better Business

Apprenticeship in Retail Supervision (Employer Information) - Retail Ireland Skillnet

European Year of Skills - European Union

Government consultations relevant to the retail sector

NSAI public consultation for the draft IS 10101:2020/prA1:202x, Amendment to The National Rules for Electrical Installations

Retail sector study

The Future of the Irish Retail Sector report, commissioned by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and carried out by KPMG Future Analytics, was completed in October 2022. The report sets out 14 recommendations which are now part of the Retail Forum’s Work Programme.