Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates from Chambers Ireland for their contributions. I want to mention the chamber in Limerick in particular. It has been very successful and professional. It had a great impact on the revitalisation of the city.

Ms Burke stated that foreign direct investment is critical to the Irish economy. I agree 100%. She indicted that there needs to be a step change regarding SME investment. This may result in a more stable economy. Deputy Munster and I recently launched a policy on an Irish enterprise agency that would be similar to IDA Ireland but with a focus on SMEs. The idea was to examine the role of local enterprise offices and determine why some work really well while others do not. It is to have a more co-ordinated system. Would our guests have an opinion on such an idea?

I was interested in Mr. Doyle's comments on the Living City initiative. What pitfalls does he envisage? It has been in Limerick for a number of years. It has not been very successful. We would like to know what could be done to make it better, not just for Limerick but also for other regional cities and towns, such as Sligo.

Gridlock is a massive problem, as other Deputies stated. I do not drive to Dublin because it is quicker to use public transport. I can walk to the local train station in Limerick and get the Luas when I get off in Dublin. I drove to the Dáil from Limerick once or twice and noted it takes much longer than public transport. Therefore, we should consider enhancing public transport.

The main topics we are talking about, namely, Brexit and climate change, have been identified clearly in the submissions. They are probably the biggest generational challenges we will face in the coming years. How do the delegates square their comments with their call for a reduction in capital gains tax and their comments on dividends and tax cuts? We do need investment.

A detailed submission shows that only 10% of the members of Cork Chamber of Commerce believe tax cuts should be the emphasis in the budget, whereas 40% indicated that there should be an improvement in public services. How can one improve public services if taxes are to be cut? Dublin Chamber of Commerce has called for the extension of the special assignee relief programme, SARP, regime to SMEs. It is a terribly discredited regime. It gave people who earned over €100 million in 2016 the benefit of the tax break. Tax breaks worth €18 million were given to very high earners. How do the delegates envisage the extension of the scheme to SMEs benefiting a country facing a hard Brexit and a serious climate change crisis?