John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the context of Mr. Dalton's point about the European Union, the issue is that one size does not fit all. Now that I know that a questionnaire is compiled by someone in Europe, I can at least understand the reason the questions are difficult to answer for many small and medium enterprises. The difficulty is twofold because, first, completing the questionnaires imposes an unfair burden on small businesses and, second, it is a legal requirement to return completed questionnaires that are specific and accurate. Many companies tick boxes to comply with the legal requirements. The European Union authorities and the Central Statistics Office must be conscious of this and make every effort to ensure businesses are able to answer the questions asked and that they are appropriate to the business in question.