Study: euro impact small

By Andrew Bushe

DUBLIN — The introduction of the Euro at the beginning of the year has only had a real impact on about 15 percent of Irish businesses, according to a survey by the Institute of Chartered Accounts in Ireland.

The survey discovered that 48 percent of businesses believe that the euro will present growth opportunities for them in a three-year time frame, compared with 10 percent who believed it represented a threat.

While 59 percent of businesses believed they were well or very well prepared for the currency change, accountants weren’t so optimistic. They said only 25 percent were well prepared and 33 percent of firms were rated as "poorly or not at all prepared."