Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

That is what we want to do — eliminate them from it altogether. In businesses there is the possibility of 100 different forms ranging from seven or eight pages up to 80 pages. The Minister of State is on the right track, and as he has a business acumen and background I expect him to be able to get it right. He recognises that businesses are significant collectors of taxes, including VAT, PAYE etc. Is it not time for entrepreneurs and proprietors of small businesses to get an allowance similar to the PAYE allowance? There needs to be some collection. Some accountants are there specifically to deal with the forms that exist. There are up to 1,000 different legislative provisions that are complex, some of them in the one Act. They impact on health and safety, company registration offices, the CSO etc. Businesses are compelled to reply to these. I have seen it with our own little shop. We are required to comply or they come back again. I often wonder why it collects information. However, that is neither here nor there.

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