Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, to the House and I welcome the creation of the SME envoy network and his nomination as our envoy. I agree with Senator Mooney that the Minister of State is a very appropriate person to be appointed to that position. He has many years of experience in business and has seen and experienced the many difficulties that business people encounter. As Senator Mooney said it is regrettable that other countries have not seen fit to have nominated a person with a business background. The Minister of State's contribution shows that he is passionate about supporting our SMEs and leveraging their potential to significantly reduce the unemployment figures. We would not have been aware that there are 23 million SMEs in Europe and the creation of one job by all these companies would eliminate the massive unemployment problem across Europe.

The increase in the numbers at work here is very welcome but we have a long way to go. The figures published yesterday show cause for significant hope because in 21 consecutive months there has been a drop in the number of people who are unemployed. However, there is a long way to go. As other speakers said, it will be the small indigenous businesses that will crack the unemployment problem. We must do everything possible to support those small businesses.

I refer to the many innovative initiatives. The creation of the entrepreneurship forum is a very welcome development as is the document which we received this morning and it makes some very interesting reading and makes important recommendations. It was interesting to hear Senator Quinn speaking about a proposal that if at the next meeting all 28 countries could come up with ten good ideas. We need people to come forward with good ideas about how the situation for small businesses can be improved.

Senator D'Arcy hit the nail on the head when he spoke about the very significant costs which are crippling small businesses, in particular, the commercial rates issue and local authority costs generally. This issue needs to be addressed and some innovative solutions found as to how we can decouple the charging of rates to small businesses versus large multinationals. We need to level the playing pitch. For example, in my town a number of major multiples have located on the edge of the town and sucked the whole life out of the centre. Small businesses are trying to compete in streets with paid parking while the large supermarkets can offer free parking in a one-stop location. The situation is inequitable and the playing pitch needs to be made level.

Like Senator D'Arcy I welcome the hints from the Government that we will see some level of reductions in people's taxes so that they have more money to spend in the local economy. The only thing that will kick start activity in the local economy is to have more people in the shops with more money in their pockets to spend on goods and services.

One issue that must be examined is the competition from those who operate in the black economy, which is causing serious difficulty. It is very difficult for legitimate operators running tight ships on low margins to compete with those providing much the same service from the backs of their houses and not paying VAT. They can undercut legitimate operators and, in some cases, draw social welfare. One way of getting around this problem is by every legitimate business providing a service for a customer having identification on the premises to show that it is legitimate, compliant and registered. It would set out that people were operating legitimately. We must also do something to encourage those operating in the black market to come into the legitimate economy, register, pay taxes and compete on a level playing field.

It is surprising that, with all of the technology available, many businesses are not fully aware of what is available through financial and information support. I welcome the indication from the Government that we will soon have a portal that businesses will be able to access to obtain information.

I strongly support the recommendation made in the report of the entrepreneurship forum to promote entrepreneurship at an early stage through the education system. We must teach entrepreneurship at school. I recently attended a fine competition among local schools in my town. Second level students at Garbally College and Ardscoil Mhuire in Ballinasloe came forward with fantastic ideas for potential start-up businesses and new products. The level of interest and expertise young people are beginning to demonstrate must be nurtured. They must be encouraged at an early stage to think about being able to create a job for themselves or jobs for two or three others. There are wonderful ideas and young people have the potential to grow small businesses. We must equip teachers in second level schools to give priority to the subjects of business and entrepreneurship.