CONFIDENCE IN the Irish business environment improved in the second quarter of the year, but optimism in the outlook for exports tapered off, according to a survey by employers’ group Ibec.

Ibec’s business sentiment index shows managers remained confident about their own business performance for the fourth consecutive quarter. The outlook for export sales slowed during the period, but “remains very strong”, according to Ibec, indicating solid export growth for 2011.

“The slight dip is more likely just a return to more normal levels of growth following a period of very rapid expansion,” it noted.

The outlook for domestic sales “remains challenging”, it added, while employment expectations for the next three months stayed negative but did not worsen.

A fifth of the 400 Ibec member companies surveyed said they planned to add staff, nearly double the proportion that reported plans to take on employees in the same period in 2010.

Separately, a survey of 592 companies by the Small Firms Association found 23 per cent of respondents expect to recruit temporary staff in the next three months, while 15 per cent expect to take on permanent employees.

This is the first time since the association’s surveys began in 2009 that more companies indicated they planned to employ staff than let staff go, said association director Patricia Callan.