Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My Y chromosome comes through every now and again.

The witnesses should be embracing the online phenomenon more strongly. Some days ago I called into a little boutique in Naas that has been established for about a year and a half. I asked the proprietor how she was doing and she said she was flying. She told me she has a good clientele who must come to her shop to pick up what they buy online. I realised any town could do this. Instead of posting out goods, one could require the customer to come to collect them. One could link in with other shops. If in Naas one cannot get a suitable pair of shoes in one shop, the shopkeeper will tell one there is nice boutique elsewhere in the town with nicer shoes. The retailers work as a town team, as was mentioned.

I do not give up hope. We must reinvent ourselves and put forward new ideas to attract people. There are so many other attractions nowadays, including lazy options on the television. The retail industry is undergoing a complete change and it must embrace this rather than fight it. The changes present a real option for small retailers.

With regard to rates, the centres of small towns should be given some sort of rates relief or compensation to reinvigorate them. This would compensate for the loss of business caused by the out-of-town units with big car-parking facilities.

The issue of upward-only rent reviews in small towns is not relevant. It is only relevant in big towns because most premises in small towns are privately owned or owned by an individual for whom it is more important to have a tenant rather than none as a consequence of increasing the rent. The point is not really relevant in certain smaller towns.

Perhaps the delegates will revert to me on the question of smaller towns. They were talking about the centres of cities.