Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Would it better in terms of the budget deficit to take a bit more out and use the bit over which we take out to invest back in the economy? I am thinking in particular of construction. The bulk of unemployed people are on the construction side of things. A lower VAT rate for construction was mentioned. An alternative approach might be a grants system for the extension or renovation of houses. That would get the smaller operator involved. We often talk about the small businessman, who in this context is the plumber and small builder. Nothing has been put in place for them. Nationally, it is all about large contracts for roads etc. If IBEC has any ideas in that regard, I would like to hear them.

On employment incentives, I have people telephoning me all the time asking if anything is available. There does not seem to be anything. I understand about PRSI, but people are looking for grants to take on someone extra. While they can take a person on part-time, they would like to take him or her on full-time to grow the business. Could something be made available for that? People talk to me about information. SMEs are finding it difficult to locate information. There is a raft of schemes which are available to them but they do not seem to be all in the one spot. We have spoken before about creating a portal of some kind.