Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My amendment was ruled out of order. I urge the Minister to consider it. I realise we cannot put forward amendments that may have a cost on the Exchequer or the people. I urge the Minister to consider my amendment. It does not abolish the scheme. Indeed, the scheme is being extended under section 11 for a further two years.

The scheme benefits a number of claimants. In 2014, a total of 2,291 people availed of the scheme. It is for long-term unemployed people who start their own business. They get relief for two years. The maximum relief is €40,000 each year. Therefore, the maximum relief an individual could get is €80,000.

The difficulty is that the number of individuals who are actually able to get anywhere close to relief at the high-end is extremely low. The figures show that the vast majority of them are claiming relief on a small scale. Approximately 75% of these entrepreneurs are getting relief at below €15,000. Basically, their profits do not reach €15,000 in the first two years.

I have argued that the relief should be curtailed to €20,000 per year but extended over a longer period. This would give more certainty for businesses. Business people who have availed of the relief have told me that the major challenge in any business is making any profit in year one and year two. The figures I have before me show that in the case 696 or one third of the 2,291 individuals who claimed in 2014 the profits on which the exemption had been claimed were between zero and €1,000.

We know that is the experience in that significant profits are not involved. An exemption on profits from €1,000 to €2,000 was claimed by 161 individuals and from €2,000 to €3,000 by 141. The figure for exemptions on profits above €15,000 starts to slide down from 30 to 12. While 49 people are able to gain relief on profits up to €40,000 per year, the majority are only getting relief on small amounts. As I said, one third have profits of less than €1,000.

My amendment would provide for the granting of relief up a figure of €20,000, which would not affect about 85% of claimants, and extend the granting of relief over three or four years, depending on the costs involved. For a business person, it would mean a little more certainty in setting up and it would not cost much more because of the small number of claimants at the top end. People with profits of up to €40,000 have probably fallen outside the category of those who need this relief. They would still get relief on their profits up to €20,000 over four years.

It is a good scheme which encourages people to set up their own businesses and rewards them for taking that risk. We know that the first few years in business are the most difficult. The evidence tells us that the scheme is of little benefit to the majority of individuals. Tweaking it could have a measurable impact on some entrepreneurs who have decided to use the start-your-own-business relief scheme.