Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank our guests for their submission. Many of the questions I had intended to ask have been asked but I will elaborate on them. The various issues raised, analysed and scrutinised by the council to compare and contrast Ireland with international norms of taxation, transport and other issues are fine, and the council stated the economy is performing reasonably well, save for some labour cost worries. That leads me to believe that the council is examining mainly large manufacturing industry and business. As my colleague, Deputy Jonathan O'Brien, indicated in an earlier question, the examples and representations we receive on the ground relate to SMEs in the main, that is, those in the service industry or selling their wares within their local economy and region. I refer to hotels, bars and leisure centres.

The big issue for them is insurance. Insurance is crippling small industries and putting them out of business. I would have thought and expected that any reports about competitiveness in this country, carried out by any body, would have at its core major recommendations on insurance. I am somewhat surprised that that is not the case. I am aware that Professor Clinch has said that he provided a previous report that fed into the body that in turn made recommendations to the Government. We are doing our best to help the Government by bringing forward relevant legislation to address that issue. It has to be at the forefront of every report compiled by those who say they represent business. Is there any part of the professor's role that deals directly with smaller businesses? Does he carry out relevant and necessary research, including questionnaires and focus groups? If not, why not? That is the feedback we are getting, and we want the professor to respond to the concerns of that group. It leads me to believe that there is an over-focus on one section of the economy while small indigenous businesses that are selling here are ignored. That leapt out at me from this report. Can the Professor respond, assuring us and those we represent that he is as committed to and as worried about the impact of the cost of insurance for people doing business? It affects the industries I have mentioned, and the next phase will concern education and school facilities and festivals in towns and regions which communities depend upon to kickstart the tourist season, among other things.