Cork Chamber says businesses are looking at every option possible in an effort to keep their doors open as energy prices continue to rise.
The group are calling on the government to introduce "significant measures" to support businesses and say many are facing energy bills that are five times higher than usual.
Energia became the latest provider to increase their prices ahead of the winter yesterday.
Electricity customers will see an increase of 29%, while gas bills will rise by 39%.
Speaking to RedFM News, Conor Healy from Cork Chamber outlines what is happening in Germany.
"They've introduced fairly extensive supports, even for large businesses. They've introduced a support of around €1.7bn for about 9,000 large, energy intensive businesses.
"That's a fairly significant support package for those businesses, and we need to see something of a similar nature in scale for our heavy electrical users.
"The more vulnerable businesses right now are the SME sector, where there are real challenges."
