Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

This motion is clear in its call on the Government to freeze all Government charges on businesses until 2012. We have had and will continue to have many debates to highlight the difficulties being experienced by small businesses throughout the country, businesses that employ more than 800,000 people between them. These businesses which are found in every parish, community and every small and large town are the backbone of our economy, but they are suffering. The Government could help them in many ways, but particularly in the area of charges over which it can have control, such as local authority charges for water, energy, waste, commercial rates and the charges involved in complying with the numerous layers of red tape concerning regulations for small businesses.

The Tánaiste has often referred to the need to address the issue of competitiveness. Fine Gael has clearly outlined its policy in this regard and our members outlined last night and will do so again tonight some of the areas where we can improve our competitiveness. Lack of competitiveness is one of the major overhangs from the Celtic tiger era. In 2000, we were fifth in the global competitiveness league, but last month we had slipped to 25th place. Two areas mentioned as contributing to this fall were lack of access to financing and inefficient Government bureaucracy. These areas were highlighted as significant problems for businesses in Ireland.

Competitiveness in this regard is a measure of the capacity of our exports to compete with other products. Irish exports are set to fall 13% in 2009 and services are expected to drop by 20% from their 2008 levels. Overall, our exports were worth €154 billion in 2008. The problem for exports is that they must compete against those of other countries and, as mentioned, we have slipped to 25th place in that regard. The problem is our exports carry the excessive burden of costs when they compete with other products.

I mentioned some areas over which the Government could have direct control. In its pre-budget submission, the Small Firms Association has outlined the six major issues on which they want the Government to act and over which it could have influence. The first of these is energy. Last week the National Competitiveness Council stated we were significantly out of tune with other EU countries. We are the fourth highest of the EU 27 in terms of energy costs and 35% more expensive than the average. Large and small businesses throughout the country must deal with those costs.

Water charges are also an issue. Any Members who have been involved with local authorities are aware of the cost to businesses operating within the regime. They must pay for water coming in and for waste water. This is a huge burden on businesses. They are crying out for transparency on charges. Businesses are told they are only bearing the burden of costs relevant to themselves, but we need light and transparency on the issue because they seem to be taking an unfair share of the burden.

Local authority rates are another issue. Fine Gael has made a commitment that where the party is in control in a local area, there will be no increase in commercial rates. It is far too easy an option for local government to concentrate on and increase commercial rates. The rate must be forced down. This will be a difficult issue for local authority members, but they must work within their budgets and not use the soft option of increasing commercial rates, particularly in the current climate. The emphasis of this motion is on getting the Government to focus on the issues under its control.

See this speech in context