Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I also welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important motion and I compliment my colleagues on putting it together. I also am glad the Minister is here because I know he is interested in and concerned about the blockages that stop companies from taking people on or that stop people from working.

As a small businessman, I know every small business would take on one or two more people if they were encouraged. That would make huge inroads into the dole queues. Unemployment leads to utter devastation, with 95% of people only wanting to do a decent day's work for a decent day's pay to provide for their families. We all hear stories about fraud and how much money unemployed people are getting. Those on middle income are getting more frustrated. I have personal experience of people going on a three day week and finding the system immediately favours them. They get six days pay for a three day week and get three days social welfare. That anomaly should be dealt with. That is bad enough but then there are all the bonuses the person in employment does not get, all those fringe benefits for those on low incomes. I know of companies who let workers go on a three day week after 25 years working with them and when the work picked up, they did not want to come back because the other system suited them. It favours the black economy because they will do nixers or work for €100 cash. That is a complete blockage and I ask the Minister to check that.

TalkTalk treated the workforce and the State agencies disgracefully. Those were all IDA-led jobs. Earlier we were debating the Bill that is being rushed through to protect Quinn Insurance. This will cost between €700 million and €850 million. We had to save the jobs but 1,500 jobs divided by that sort of money is costing a lot. That is not the end of it; there will be further austerity as John Citizen is forced to pay a levy on every insurance policy.

This is a further punitive measure that will stymie businesses which, as the Minister knows, are on their knees. They cannot take that kind of increase. Where is the wisdom in putting that kind of money into shoring up a disgraced bank? I still have an interest in it. Bondholders are still being protected. A rich-picking insurance company has seen the success of Quinn Insurance and wants that part of the company. Anyone can see through that.

An EU fund was available to help redundant Dell workers. We have a huge inability to change the system, which should be caught by the scruff of the neck and shaken. I heard an official from a State agency today who was unable to answer questions as to why that fund was not drawn down and how so few people set up as self-employed. The questions were left for someone else to answer. It is an outright disgrace to give that kind of money to create 250 jobs. I compliment agencies on creating jobs but that is not a good return on State spending. Departments and agencies are not pulling their weight.

We got carried away in the good times. Social partnership drove business out of the country. That is why TalkTalk and other companies are leaving.

I did not support the cut in the minimum wage and I compliment the Government on restoring it. It must be viable for someone to go to work. It costs money to go to work.

We must cut out red tape. This is not happening because vested interests have their hands clasped around those interests. The Health and Safety Authority, the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, and agency after agency which have chief executives and regional offices throughout the country are a crying disgrace. Instead of walking into business premises, flashing cards and telling employers that employees should be paid one rate five minutes before midnight and a different rate five minutes after midnight, NERA should offer help. The agency should be renamed the national employers and employees support agency. We do not need another quango to frighten the life out of businesses. We need a change of attitude from top to bottom. The people who manage these agencies are not in the real world.

We have too much legislation. Employees' rights legislation was introduced in the 1950s, when it was badly needed. Since then, however, we added more levels on top of the original legislation. Any self-employed person who employs six people will need a book-keeper and someone to manage the various regulations and agencies.

We need employment stimulus. Most business people start small. Tosach maith leath na hoibre. Anyone who starts a business must have vision and passion. Many small businesses have gone to the wall because we did not have a proper construction Bill. When big companies went out of business there was no protection for the small firms, who were not paid. Human tragedies resulted from that. When a small firm goes out of business the employees get unemployment benefit, and rightly so, but the employer gets nothing. How will such small employers find the courage to start up again? They have ideas but they cannot get a shilling from the banks. This and the previous Government produced plans and reports on how much they would spend on job creation. The banks do not have the money, or if they do they are not lending it. Something must be done about this. Why would a person with initiative and ideas face the ordeal of setting up a business again? He or she would be persecuted by many of the State agencies. Why would a self-employed person who was forced to close through no fault of his or her own start again? If we kill initiative we will take a long time to develop it again.

We must focus on keeping the jobs we have. We must stop the haemorrhage, cut out the red tape and encourage people rather than discourage them on a daily basis. Small business people are frustrated, blackguarded and not supported in a meaningful way. I am not looking for special favours. I am simply asking that people with initiative be allowed to carry on, grow their companies and create better employment. Most business people value their workers and treat them properly. In that way they create a better rapport. Everything is better when people are happy working together and driving forward.

It was heartening to be at the ploughing championships last week and to see the farming industry, which has come out of a huge depression, buoyant and in good form and about to spend, if farmers can get the money. Finance is the big problem.

The Minister knows my views. I appeal to him to release the shackles on enterprise and cut out at least half of the red tape.

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