Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I want to thank the Deputies who have spoken for their contributions to the debate. I would like to address some of the points raised. In opening the debate yesterday, the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, pointed out that the motion is based on the relatively misleading premise that Government charges are the biggest cost faced by businesses in Ireland, which is not the case. Costs such as energy and labour are of more immediate concern to businesses, large and small, and the availability of credit is the key issue facing the SME sector at present, as has been said by all Deputies during the debate.

Let us also remember that improving the business environment for companies is not only about simply cutting percentages off costs and charges, although that is vital. It is also about driving efficiencies across a whole range of areas that will, when achieved, lead to lower costs, greater productivity and improved working conditions, some of which were referred to by Deputies Ring and Doyle earlier.

The Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, spoke yesterday of the Government's consciousness that the administrative burden of regulation falls more heavily on small businesses than on most. This is recognised internationally, and makes the current administrative burden reduction programme all the more beneficial for small firms. The need to foster entrepreneurship at every level is central to our economic recovery, and the Better Regulation agenda is a key pillar of this work. Already, the high level group on business regulation, lead by my Department, has identified more than €20 million of administrative cost savings for business. I would again urge business, especially small business, to continue to submit practical suggestions where they feel the current burden is greatest. I, with the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, share a special commitment to this project in order to reduce this burden as soon as possible.

The issue of workplace inspections was raised throughout the debate. I recognise there is a need to streamline, as far as possible, the various inspections that are carried out by the State in order to ensure the laws of the land are being applied and that workers are not being exploited or put at risk in the workplace. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 provides for exchanges of certain information between the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, NERA, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs and the Revenue Commissioners. This facilitates the operation of joint investigations by the three parties, or a combination of the parties. The focus of NERA in such investigations or inspections is on checking for breaches of employment law, while the Garda National Immigration Bureau may also participate.

To date, such joint inspections are only undertaken where there is suspected serious non-compliance or where the employer is refusing to co-operate with one or more body. NERA has undertaken 50 such joint inspections since the beginning of 2008.

Further work is being undertaken to make greater improvements in this area. An informal group of inspection agencies has been set up to discuss the issues around risk-based enforcement and to investigate how agencies and Departments may co-operate more closely to improve effectiveness. The group is focusing on potential co-operation between agencies and Departments, as well as identifying cross-cutting themes. The group intends to report its findings to the high level group by the end of 2009. Again, I wish to reiterate my personal commitment in this area.

The Government is taking a number of steps to support businesses, particularly SMEs, as was outlined earlier in the debate. Not all of the actions are about new schemes or spending money but about providing practical solutions and advice for companies. Even straightforward assistance such as the guide for boosting productivity in companies, which was recently produced by Forfás, is free to businesses and can make a difference on the ground.

The Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher informed the House last night about recent trade missions to China, Canada and the US, where the Tánaiste is currently on a mission. Each of these lead to new or extended contracts for some companies and opened important doors for others. Separate to trading deals being done around those, however, there have also been a number of wider job creation announcements from multinationals already in Ireland or setting up operations here, such as Equinoxe AIS in Deputy Perry's constituency in Sligo, SITA in Letterkenny, McAfee in Cork, PayPal in Dublin and Citrix Systems. Even today, there has been further positive development with the announcement from the Irish Technology Leadership Group in the US of the creation of a $100 million venture capital fund, and the setting up next year of an Irish technology centre in the heart of Silicon Valley. In addition, the software company, Sajan, is to establish a new European headquarters in Ireland.

Today's KBC consumer sentiment survey was more optimistic than it has been for the past two years. Business sentiment has improved in regard to the broader economy and, while business conditions are still tough, they are not nearly as bad as they were earlier in 2009.

We are very aware of the challenges. I look forward to working with the Opposition and the committee in order to address them.

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