Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives for their detailed presentations. I will begin with the presentation from Retail Excellence Ireland.

I am very conscious of the point about defining the core area. In the year and a half I spent in Kildare County Council, the first thing we learned about planning was that any good planning should be sequential from the town centre out. Compared with Newbridge, Naas was always the retail town. However, a large multiple development on the edge of the town saw perfectly viable businesses in the heart of the town close and go out, given that there was more footfall out in the large shopping centre. In Newbridge, the Whitewater shopping centre was developed in the heart of the town, and Newbridge is a more thriving retail town. Local businesses beside Whitewater are benefitting from increased footfall. Regarding planning laws, could Mr. Fitzsimons comment on how Lidl and Aldi stores, which can provide free parking, seem to be given a run-through by local authorities and the impact it is having in our towns and villages?

I was surprised Mr. Fitzsimons put such importance on the beautification element. I completely agree and welcome the fact that he sees it as an important element. Our local authority recently came forward with a shop front initiative. Although some towns did not buy into it, in Athy the €50,000 for painting a shop front was snapped up in no time and it has already had a very visible effect on the main street. Last Thursday night I was at a Tidy Towns community action awards ceremony in Kilcullen, a relatively small town. More than 100 people attended and it was standing room only. There was an award for the best business shop front, the local GAA club got something and there was a Tidy Town award for the best estate. It was all integrated and there was a very strong sense among the people in the town of the need to support local businesses, given that they support the people. Mr. Fitzsimons used the phrase "use it or lose it" regarding planning. As we said to An Post, the Irish Postmasters Union and the Irish League of Credit Unions earlier, we must continue to drive a message to our citizens that if they do not use their local post offices, shops, convenience stores and newsagents, they will lose them. Online shopping is a major challenge.

Mr. Fitzsimons mentioned getting expertise in and learning from the UK. Many regional towns in the UK were decimated and their town centres died. Are we trying to avoid the mistakes of the UK or are there examples of towns that have got it right over there and lessons that can be learned from a planning perspective? While I do not disagree with the point that local authority skills are poor, we cannot bypass the local authorities. I would be interested in any views on how we can improve it and work with the local authorities, given that they are an integral part and they are all over the country. It is key.

Mr. Jennings and Mr. Kelly are very welcome. I will take two points from the presentation we received earlier. The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is undertaking a review of the motor insurance industry. There has been a public consultation process and it is feeding into the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan. In recent discussions with him, he told me it was the starting point. Insurance is a key issue for members of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association, as it is for all businesses. We hope the lessons we learn from the motor insurance problems will feed into the exact same problems we have in the insurance sector across all areas. The rows about whether blame falls on the legal profession or on the insurance companies for settling too early reflect the same problems and will cross over. I look forward to having a process early in the new year whereby the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association members can feed into a similar review.

I take on board the points about the Data Protection Commissioner. Shoplifting is cruel. Constituents of mine have contacted me about their frustration in respect of their convenience store where the weekly and daily losses to shoplifting are significant. Maybe the committee should write to the Data Protection Commissioner about it and highlight a specific recommendation that has been put to us here today and ask whether more can be done to enable retailers, given the investments they make in CCTV.

Regarding the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill and structural separation, I have been contacted by the vast majority of shop owners in my constituency and I have sympathy for the concerns they raised. Some of the larger multiples have mounted a very good campaign and they have used some of the smaller shops to make the argument. The people who contacted me are very solid people whose judgment I respect and who are very concerned about it. However, I found some of the arguments they were making would not necessarily affect their stores, given that they are on the smaller scale. Although there will be some element of shuttering or using curtains, their stores are not necessarily big enough to require a separate room. I can understand the challenge from the shoplifting and extra staff perspective. Could Mr. Jennings and Mr. Kelly outline exactly how the structural separation would impact on their members' stores? What proportion of their trade is alcohol sales? How significant a proportion is it?