Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the delegates. It is great to see them making a presentation. Their concerns comprise one of the most significant issues that arose on the doorsteps during the last general election campaign.

I had a shoe shop for 24 years and have been self-employed all my life. It is disappointing to see so many doors being shut and a lack of information. Self-employed people really do not know their entitlements because they are busy protecting their businesses and getting on with what they do. For a self-employed person to enter a constituency office is a huge step. The self-employed have never been in looking for anything in their lives and, therefore, do not know their entitlements. All self-employed people have done all their lives is paid. They kept paying.

My late father – Lord have mercy on him – used to say that once one puts one's name over the door and becomes self-employed, one becomes an unpaid tax collector. It is great to see the delegates making their case. Many of the Senators and Deputies are aware of the problem that exists because they have encountered it in their constituencies. They hear about it daily.

Many self-employed people have battled to retain their businesses, yet those businesses have deteriorated even more. They are receiving no help from the banks or credit unions. I agree totally with Mr. Matthews on this. The self-employed have been using their savings and the savings are now drying up. If we are serious about getting this country moving and taking it out of its current mess, we will need self-employed people and SMEs. The latter will restore the country. We need a safety net for SMEs.

I am delighted to see representatives from the Department of Social Protection present. They have changed their attitude to the self-employed and their entitlements considerably since I became a Member 18 months ago. In fairness to the Minister for Social Protection, she is working on the issue. An independent group is producing a report and we will determine how we should proceed when we receive it.

Circumstances have changed. During the last general election campaign, I was on local radio, LMFM, and remember Mr. Michael Reade asking me what I would like to do if I got elected. The issue we are talking about is one I said I would like to address because it has affected me personally. I know what it is like to go home with the stress and strain of trying to pay one's bills, including one's rates, electricity bill and staff bill. The SME owner is the last person to get paid and does not get a shilling at all some weeks; he or she is just trying to survive. I know what it is like to have no money and to bring all one's pressures home with one. We need a safety net for the self-employed if there is to be progress.

When I know we are in tough times, I realise we need a safety system if we are to get the country going again. Self-employed people and SMEs will get the country out of the hole it is in if they are given a chance.