Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Yes, it is. In the straitened times we are in with the lack of finance going to small and medium enterprises, very viable businesses are going to the wall simply because they cannot get the cash. In many cases, those viable businesses are owed money from customers for goods and services they have provided. The publication of the Small Claims (Protection of Small Businesses) Bill is a very welcome opportunity to deal with a pressing need. From speaking to many business organisations and many individuals in businesses, I know that trying to collect debt they are owed is a major problem. It is worth quoting the first paragraph of the explanatory memorandum of the Bill:

The purpose of this Bill is to provide an efficient and inexpensive mechanism for small business to recover small debts from purchasers. Delayed payments and bad cheques are threatening the survival of many small and medium enterprises and forcing others into insolvency. This is particularly the case where a small firm has supplied goods, or installed services, which cannot be removed or which have a short shelf life.

We know that businesses in the food service sector have been very badly hit by the lack of a reasonably cost-effective debt collection mechanism. I look forward to the Bill being moved through the House at the earliest opportunity.

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