Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their attendance. They opened up and discussed many interesting points. I come from a rural constituency in west Cork. Earlier, I spoke about the banks. We have lost two of our banks, which resulted in a major shop in our town closing within a year. This shows the knock-on effect it has. It has a severe effect on the town. People are shopping in the bigger towns, which may be 40 km from where they live, and the local town is losing out. Other shops are struggling for survival. These issues are not taken into account when somebody makes a very quick decision about closing something without looking at the further implications.

During the drafting of the programme for Government we discussed town revival programmes a lot, especially the rural resettlement programme. If we brought people into our towns it would make the towns and shops busier. Rural resettlement could include living over a shop. Many shops have nobody living over them. My town, Schull, is popular during the summer. During the winter, a town that could house 250 people might not have 20 people living in it. The effects of that are very evident to me. Recently, I went into the hotel there and asked if I could have tea and a scone in the morning. They told me they did not have anybody cooking because they had nobody staying the night before. How will they survive? The hotel industry is very important given that it has a knock-on effect on local businesses.

In west Cork, Bandon and Skibbereen were severely hit by flooding, which decimated businesses. A motion on insurance is to come before the Dáil in the next week or so. Insurance companies have lost the run of themselves and nobody seems to be able to control them, discuss issues with them or see where we can turn the issue around. Some businesses are contacting me and, probably, other Deputies. They are getting astronomical insurance bills, and if they have been flooded, they cannot get insured again, even if major flood prevention works are carried out in their towns preventing flooding and millions of euro have been spent. They are a law unto themselves. The committee needs to bring the insurance companies before it to discuss it and help protect businesses.

"Use it or lose it" is a great idea. If local authorities around the country could apply this, it would bring a lot of life into local towns. I made the point on local radio a few months ago. I attended a meeting in Macroom, outside my constituency, and on the way home at around midnight or 1 a.m. I went through many of the towns I represent. They were like ghost villages. The only difference between them and the western films we used to watch long ago was that there was no straw blowing through the village. It is an unfortunate fact. To try to turn it around is very difficult. This committee is trying to help.

I am involved in a community alert group and I see CCTV cameras as a big plus in preventing crime, especially in businesses. I am astonished that one cannot pass the information on to one's peers. Sometimes, one wonders who is favouring whom. People need to protect their businesses. As Deputies, maybe we need to ensure legislation is brought forward to change that. Another crisis is facing retailers, namely, the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. I would love to know who was the author of the Bill. Maybe they can argue a point with the big stores such as Tesco. They might be able to do something, however, the small, local stores are being asked to bring in new laws under the Bill.

It is not workable and it will not work. We could see major job losses because of it. I will oppose it completely. I have been in contact with the Rural Alliance group to make sure that we are all in support of small businesses and small shopkeepers. When it comes to the sale of alcohol, they know best and they control it best. The smaller storekeeper knows better than most to make sure that areas where alcohol is displayed are manned and watched carefully so that the wrong people do not buy alcohol. The Government can bring forward plenty of other provisions in the alcohol Bill if it wants to turn this around and make it look workable, but it should not attack the small stores. I will support small business and small shopkeepers. We should be able to give them any help we can.