Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 1 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Challenges Facing Small and Medium Enterprises: Discussion

Mr. Neil McDonnell:

There are several such examples.

I will ask my colleague to speak to one of them. However, the press recently reported that we effectively had subsidisation of large energy users by the consumer sector. There was effectively subsidisation of their network rates. We understand that many of those large energy users are, as Mr. McKeever said, extremely important. However, if we have a situation where those businesses that are most profitable and most able to sustain cost variability are actually being subsidised by consumers and small businesses, that undermines the stability of the business sector we represent. We also see, and I will ask Ms Dunne to step in here, for small childcare facilities, which are the backbone of allowing people to go to work especially outside the major conurbations as big network providers are not in small towns and villages, the pricing structure currently on offer from the Department is not able to support them.