Feargal Quinn (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation to the committee. I was a member of RGDATA for many years and I am familiar with its work. I support entirely the point Ms Buckley makes. RGDATA's members are great supporters of Irish industry and business. They do it because it is good for business. The vast majority want to buy local products. They want to buy their own.

I am also a great believer in the market economy. It is dangerous to solve all problems in one way, by suggesting customers pay where we do not like what they do. I agree with Mr. Morton. We must find a way.

I would hold the same view on any suggestion that one should charge for parking in out-of-town centres. If that is what the customers want and that is where the customers go, then the incentive must be for the towns to work in some way or other to bring customers back into them. It is not fair or correct to state that the Government or town council should do something about that. Each town itself must do it.

In recent years I have been involved in a television programme and have visited many small towns to which I would not have been previously. One can see some success stories and some failures. Edenderry, for example, is a town with three shopping centres. There is Lidl, Tesco and Aldi on one side and a big Dunnes Stores on the other, and the centre of the town is deserted and the shops are closed. Somehow or other, the town, whether the town council or the shopkeepers themselves, will have to do something about that. What they must do is somehow or other find a way to put life into that town.

I have also been involved in Drogheda. When we went to Drogheda first, the various organisations representing the different streets did not talk to one another - there was no cohesion. When they got together and worked together, they were able to do brilliantly in the town. They did not solve every problem but they were able to do a great deal. They have in-town car parking as well. It does not solve all the problems. They were able to do a considerable amount.

What I am saying is it is in their own hands to a large extent and RGDATA must encourage each town by saying that if they want to get business back into the centre of the town, they should not rely on the Government or town council, and they must do something themselves. One can see some towns that are doing a marvellous job where they are able to get together to provide a mixture of retail and food, alcohol and entertainment.

Mr. Morton touched on this. I remember well that we had a problem in Bray where there was no car parking charge. The staff and the owners of the shops came and parked outside their own shops all day long to the extent we had to say there must be a charge applied because otherwise there would be nowhere else and nobody could come in to shop. One could see car parks filled with those who park there all day long. It is up to the shops themselves to find some way of solving it. Given what Mr. Morton said, it does not look as though clamping is the ideal arrangement. There must be some other arrangement that we can find. To a large extent, it will be in RGDATA's own hands.

There are other aspects RGDATA brought up that will not be in its own hands. The State must solve the black market problem. It must solve the issue of illegal tobacco smuggling and fuel laundering. We, as citizens, cannot do that ourselves. There is not nearly enough focus of attention on how we will do that, but that is up to the State. We must find a way to do something about that.

On the other hand, RGDATA makes a strong point about the joint labour committees, JLCs. I am fully convinced that many jobs cease to exist once one goes above a certain level. Perhaps having a minimum wage which is the second highest in Europe explains why there is such high unemployment. In Germany, where there is no minimum wage, they do not have an unemployment problem. That is not a popular statement to make.

There really is a need to state there are steps we ourselves can take and there are steps the State must take. I believe the steps RGDATA is taking are in the right direction. It is drawing attention to those matters about which we can do something as a State. There are some steps which, individually, each town and each group of traders themselves must take. The way RGDATA is working is merely to remind its members that they themselves can do a significant amount.

There are some good examples around the country of where traders are taking wonderful steps. Ennis has done a marvellous job in the centre of the town. It is a joy to walk around. I am not sure how they have done it. I do not have the detail, but there is no doubt. One can go to Ennis, park and walk around the streets because they are pedestrianised. There are success stories. If one looks around the country and sees where the success stories are, the vast majority of them are not the result of State imposition but where the town people themselves say, "If we want to make our town vibrant and alive, we ourselves can do it." I do not know how one will do it in Ballinrobe because I do not know the town well enough, but I am sure one can learn from some of the towns I have seen.