George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for their presence and presentations, which were extremely useful. As someone who ran a small business for more than 20 years in Wexford, I am all too well aware of the cost of doing business, be it energy, insurance or bad debt.

People who just would not pay were also a factor. There were those weeks without wages, particularly in the early days, and investing savings you had built up, just to keep things ticking over. One of the things that used to annoy me was when you employed someone and offered them a wage, the employer's PRSI came in on top of that, which really knocked the stuffing out of you. Employer PRSI should be something we focus on, even if it does not necessarily affect employees, who are also suffering, in respect of the cost-of-living crisis. We need to be cognisant of that.

I apologise if some of these questions have been asked in my absence; I had to go to the Dáil to speak. I am also interested in the ratio of rent to rates. I spent 20 years as a county councillor and even though I ran a small business, I never voted for a rates decrease because I saw the benefits of having rates to reinvest into the community. One of the things that annoyed me, however, was hugely inflated rent in places, particularly along our main streets. What would happen was a big multiple would come in and be able to pay hundreds of thousands in rent, which of course had a knock-on effect on every other property on that main street, while local authorities were attacked for charging rates, which were by comparison a fraction of that, although I appreciate what €80,000 is for a small supermarket. I know of one hotel in the south east that is paying €300,000 a year in rates.

This has probably been discussed and answered and if that is the case, that is perfect. Are any of the organisations part of business investment districts, BIDs? Do they see the benefits of those? Are the benefits directly invested into the areas they are involved in? It is probably more city-focused initiatives.

On restaurants, and I appreciate there appears to be a dramatic drop in foreign visitors indicated by the spend being down 21%, are local Irish visitors picking up any of the slack caused by the reduction in foreign visitors? That is one of the questions.

In respect of Ms Buckley's presentation, the horrific spectre of crime in retail is something we really need to grab by the neck. I listened with horror a few months ago when I heard one of RGDATA's members was seriously assaulted on a Friday. The offender was apprehended but was back in on Monday stealing again from the shop. Is the whole thing about repeat offenders coming back to punish, and basically laugh in the face of, people who are providing a wonderful service throughout the country something that is galling to RGDATA? Are the bigger multiples targeting its members? I have noticed in Wexford that some of the supermarkets go out to check each other's prices and to look here, there and yonder at what others are doing. Is that an issue for smaller companies? Are the bigger multiples focusing in or bringing pressure to bear on their facilities? In the rates incentive schemes of the past, if you paid within a certain time, there was a reasonable reduction in rates. Is that something RGDATA would consider pushing?

This may have been discussed, but I welcome any suggestions from the Small Firms Association on how to improve public tender contracts because they can be very cumbersome. Are the policies we have counterproductive? A number of years ago we introduced a policy where local companies were essentially competing with much bigger organisations in tendering for contracts for supplies and things like that. I would welcome some proposals, moves or suggestions on that matter. I would also welcome proposals in the area of commercial rates.

I have a question specifically for the SFA. Are regulations for some of the bigger businesses it is dealing with causing difficulty for its members in the context of the pressure that comes to bear on them to adhere to the regulations that are being imposed on the bigger suppliers?

I will also raise the matter of all the organisations' relationships when dealing with Revenue. At times when cashflow may be an issue or a problem and the brown envelope with the harp on it comes to their members' doors, what sort of interaction have they had?