Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I should have said, for those who were not aware, that Lord Wallace is the speaker for the Government Whip in the House of Lords, a Liberal Democrat, who visited today.

I fully accept that for small businesses the work done by national governments is vital, but there are three areas that differentiate small businesses from large businesses that will be discussed next week. The first is a banking union. Small and medium-sized enterprises will benefit most from that because larger companies can access moneys everywhere.

Also, better regulation in terms of simplification of administration impacts very much on small businesses. The area of the services directive is another issue. The one area where we have seen most growth in Ireland has been our exporting of services. I am aware that a peer review of the services directive is ongoing. Is the Minister aware of how we are performing within that review? Do any of my colleagues have additional comments to make before the Minister responds?