Mr. Mark Fielding:

The owners have to be there every day, but they can schedule their employees. Would closing time for late night shopping be 9 p.m., 10 p.m. or 11 p.m? In town centres especially all shops do not need to be open, but if a change of use could be fast-tracked for businesses, for example, from retail to restaurant use, in order that the town centre could be changed, there would be a lot of work. It is not all about retail; it is also about convenience and providing an experience to get people back into town centres.

While PRSI will not be the only issue, it will certainly be a big one. Retail members of ISME say it has curtailed not alone their new employees but it has also put a strain on existing employees.

Rectifying this would create new jobs. We keep talking about job creation. The 100% increase in employer PRSI for people earning up to €356 per week has stopped them taking on new employees. As we know, over recent years, many retailers have had to cut back on staff, but as the consumer is starting to spend, more staff are needed. Employers look to see how they can do this, and are immediately hit with extra PRSI. There would be a payback if PRSI were addressed. The Government could bring the rate back to 4.25%, leave it there, have some sort of sunset clause, and gradually bring it back up again. The increase was too fast and too much.

The difficulty with online selling is that many retailers and other businesses were sold a pup by slick salespeople who told them getting online was the answer to everything, and there was no such thing as education. Deputy Calleary referred to this. Many people took it on board and waited for things to happen, not understanding that one must work one's online presence as one has to work one's shop. Education and training is part of the answer.

Town teams should be financed in a competitive way so that they compete with each other for funding, bringing the better towns on. It is all about competition. ISME lives or dies by competition. If a town can outdo another town it should be rewarded, similar to the Tidy Towns competition.