Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. I wish to say to the Leader that it is time to assess the affect that cuts and austerity have had on the economy. It appears that ECB President Draghi has seen the light and is of the view that austerity is not working. We can really see the affect that austerity has had on rural economies and rural Ireland, in particular. In that context, Teagasc has just published a wonderful report called The Economic Structure of Towns in Ireland and it would be wise for us to debate the report in this House.

This report should be used to inform policy-making when we look at rural Ireland because I see a huge difference between how Galway city and how rural towns are working and faring. Rural towns are dying on their feet but, thankfully, Galway city is thriving. We should try to ensure that everybody gets a fair crack of the whip.

The second aspect to the debate on the economy I would like to see is the impact of tax policies which prohibit entrepreneurship and job creation. Our high levels of VAT must be questioned. It is not right that there are different levels of VAT in the UK, or in Northern Ireland because it is part of the island of Ireland. On a historic day like today, it would be nice if our levels of VAT were the same so that we were not driving people to one part of the island over another. Employers' PRSI must always be questioned as it is a tax on employment.

A business in Oranmore pointed out to me that shops on our streets pay rent and rates and it is impossible for them to compete with online shops. People ask if someone can match the online price of a garment and if so, they will buy it. We need to have some incentive - it should be a VAT incentive as was done for the hospitality industry - to ensure our shops stay open because they bring life to our towns and our streets. To be fair, that entrepreneur is paying rent and rates, which are used to keep local authorities going. It would be useful to have a comprehensive debate on the economy with those two aspects in mind.