David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with what Deputy Shanahan said in respect of the Glanbia situation. It is impacting businesses in my area too. Even though it has gone through all the planning issues along the way it is still being held up. That brings us to the issue of planning laws in Ireland and the fact that enterprise can be delayed ad nauseam. That can have an impact on foreign direct investment here as well, which is something we should take into account.

I have a question for Mr. Hughes and his colleagues. The small enterprises that have been affected more than any others are small retailers. There has been talk about click and collect starting shortly and so forth, but many of these small businesses have been closed for quite some time. With retailers in particular, some of their stock is season-dependent. They have summer stock and then they must get rid of that in the sales in the winter. Then they bring in the winter stock and they get rid of that in the sales in the spring. They have not been able to do that, so their cash flow has been impacted. On top of that, in recent days we have heard reports that some of the large multiples have been selling stock such as shoes, clothes and so forth, which they are not supposed to do. That could have an impact on the small and medium sized retailers in towns and cities across the country. It is deplorable they are doing that and shocking that they are not being pulled up on it. It appears that it requires a complaint to be made to the Garda and the Garda must then investigate, which seems to be very convoluted.

I appeal to the larger multiples to stop selling this stock because they are impacting in a negative way. If people get into the habit of going to the larger multiples, they will stop going to the smaller shops. What is the situation with regard to small retailers in towns? We hear a great deal about town centres and so forth. Many of our town centres are being hollowed out because these small retailers have been closed for so long and nobody is going into the towns. I am not sure whether the behaviour of the multiples will have an impact on the small retailers. Does Mr. Hughes have a view on that? Second, what is his information or knowledge of the impact on small retailers across the country? Will many of them not reopen? Are many of them engaging with the various agencies such as the Department, the LEOs and so forth with respect to the various loans we are discussing today?