Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates for coming before the committee and for their presentations. I worked in retail for 24 years before I was elected to the Dáil. I had a shoe shop. I have seen all perspectives on uniforms and school shoes. It is a closed shop when it comes to school uniforms and shoes. One hears from people in the retail trade that they have a school on their books which they facilitate with school uniforms and they have the whole market to themselves. On a few occasions I tried to get some information on clothing to determine whether I could mix clothes and shoes, but found I could not enter the market because it is a closed shop. The school supports a shop and they work in tandem.

In Northern Ireland one can purchase a crest or badge and multinationals co-ordinate with schools. Uniforms are chosen which everyone, including multinationals and local shops, can get. Whoever has the best prices gets the business. Multinationals do not carry huge stock, and therefore individual shops also get trade. In the Republic, there are different colours, shapes and makes, and it is a closed shop. People in the trade are making vast sums of money. One trader told me he earns enough in the six to eight weeks of back-to-school trade to keep him going for the whole year.

As a Deputy O'Brien said, uniforms no longer comprise trousers and a geansaí, rather there are sports elements. People with three or four children could spend a couple of thousand euro in a shop. That could be multiplied many times. I wish the best of luck to such shops but we need open trading in this sector.

One issue raised by Mr. Myers was the 23% VAT rate. There was a Revenue crackdown on the shoe industry. Children's shoes are zero-rated and adult shoes have a VAT rate of 23%. Most shoes come in carton lots of 12 and 14 because they are made in the Far East. Deck shoes with white soles have become very popular - they are called "Dubes" - and cost €100 a pair. Such shoes start at size 36 and go up to size 42. A 36 is a size 3. Most shop owners thought that shoes up to size 5.5 were zero-rated, but the Revenue Commissioners said once a range goes from 36 to 48, all sizes are ratable at 23%. Children's feet grow, and eight, nine or ten year olds wear size 7, 8, 9 or 10 shoes, which are all rated at 23%.

If we do anything as a result of today's meeting, we should examine whether the Government can do anything about having an exemption from the 23% for school-going children. It would be a huge saving. If one has to buy runners, shoes and football boots for four or five children, the extra 23% VAT is significant. Mr. Myers brought memories of the VAT rate flooding back. Revenue did audits and then left shoe shops because it was worried about the negative publicity it would get. However, we were told that once shoes came in cartons with sizes from 36 to 42, we had to charge 21%, and then 23% when the rate increased. It is a major issue for people buying shoes for children going back to school.

In one school with which I am dealing, if one does not pay the voluntary contribution, one does not get a key for a locker. Children who see others without keys know they have not paid, which is an horrendous situation.

There are a lot of sole traders and self-employed people. I was self-employed and came before this committee, as other members can confirm, to push for an effort to look after the self-employed. The comments on the grant system for back-to-school requirements are correct. Many sole traders are not surviving and we need to consider helping them in terms of back-to-school grants. The laws on social protection have been loosened a little and sole traders are receiving payments, but it is still an issue.

Going back to school uniforms, many of the shops which have a monopoly on their sale are supplying acrylic and synthetic garments. The profits on these items are huge. It boils down to the decisions made by boards of management and principals. When one becomes a member of a board of management, whether one is voted in or appointed by a local authority, there is no education given on how the boards actually function. Instead, members are expected to go with the flow, which often means falling in line with what the principal says. This system is not good enough and must be changed. I raised this issue with the departmental delegates at a meeting of the committee some weeks ago. They assured us that money has been set aside this year to publish information booklets for school board members.