There will be a lot more fish and chips shops closed around Ireland in the New Year.

That's the dire prediction from Paolo Borza, who works in the family chipper business that was started by his grandparents in Dublin in the 1950s.

Paolo started working in Borza Stillorgan with his grandparents and moved to Stepaside Village in 2010.

Reporting for The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Sarah Madden spoke to those involved in bringing fish from the sea to your table to find out how the cost-of-living crisis is impacting on their business.

Paolo said their costs have steadily climbed in recent years.

"We are definitely in a different place from 13 years ago," he said.

"We probably had our peak in the last three years over COVID till the middle of last year.

"When inflation started, we had gas and electricity going through the roof.

"Then we had our suppliers; we had oil, fish, potatoes - this summer in particular we have pretty much trebled in potato prices.

"We've [also] had the rise of our VAT going back from 9% to 13%.

"The industry is facing multiple challenges; years ago, we used to have something like our oil going up or fish. Now what's happening is everything is going through the roof."

Paolo Borza and staff at Borza Stepaside in Dublin. Image: Supplied

Paolo said even being sustainable comes at a cost.

"The polystyrene went out, we had to change to the reusable plastic [which is] three and a half times the price," he said.

"Everybody's ordering online, so we also have to lose our 14%/15% commission to these online websites.

"That's another chunk gone out of everything.

"If you order that fresh cod that's €9, we're only getting about €7.50 out of it.

"Then we have to pay our card fees on top of that, COVID brought all that in as well.

"Everything is eating into our dish, put it that way, that people wouldn't notice.

"We can only raise our prices unfortunately and... it's not by choice."

Chips at Borza Stepaside in Dublin. Image: Supplied

Paolo said the days of being 'cheap as chips' are gone.

Ten years ago, when we opened here, a fresh cod was €5.90 and a bag of chips was €2.80," he said.

"And we're at €4 [for chips] and €9 for a fresh cod.

"A lot of our regular and local customers take [it] that the chipper is the place where you can feed the family under a reasonable amount.

"Cheap as chips is gone," he added.

Paolo Borza at Borza Stepaside in Dublin. Image: Supplied

Paolo said customers have a part to play themselves.

"If I can give any advice to the public out there – order through the phone, the old-style way," he said.

"Order on their own website and their own app so it's manageable - if you can pay cash, pay cash.

"A lot of them will stick it out, to get the Christmas out of it, but... you're going to see a lot more popping up next year, a lot more businesses, because they're closing.

"There's no real guarantee to where we're going to end up this time next year," he added.

'The industry is in peril'

Irish South & West Fish Producer's Organisation CEO Patrick Murphy said the industry is in peril.

"Fishermen leave the pier wall in debt every single time they go to sea," he said.

"They have to catch the fish to pay for their expenses.

Some boats have to pay €700 a month for Wi-Fi alone just to stay legal, so that they can transmit the legal requirements so where they are.

"It's no longer an attractive industry because of regulations and the rewards for risk that's involved in the industry.

"The industry itself is in peril," he added.

Main image: Paolo Borza at Borza Stepaside in Dublin. Image: Supplied