Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for his response. I am sure he will agree that small business is facing great pressure and stress at present in terms of falling consumer demand as a result of the pressures on the wider economy. The Government has signalled that an increase of 2% in the higher VAT rate will be part of next week's budget and the retailers have reacted quite angrily to that. They also reacted angrily to the kite that was flown by the Minister for Social Protection regarding sick leave pay. Furthermore, they are concerned about the proposed reduction in the amount of the redundancy rebate. All these pressures are feeding into business. There is also the existing pressure of commercial rates, which we debated in the House last week. During that debate we highlighted the actions that must be taken in terms of recognising the changed economic circumstances and people's ability to pay.

Small business, retailers and family businesses throughout the country have an issue with increasing the cap on retail space for the bigger multiples. The EU-IMF deal did not specifically provide for an increase in that cap, and the Minister must acknowledge that. It provided for a study. Increasing the cap would allow for more space, which would squeeze the smaller retailers in town centres. It is a core function of proper and good planning that we develop from the core of towns and villages outward, rather than enhancing the already developed out-of-town shopping outlets. My native city of Limerick is an example of that, where the doughnut effect around the city is prevalent and has essentially torn the heart out of the inner city. All sorts of drastic measures will be required to rebalance that.

Our position is that we oppose increasing the cap. What is the Minister's position on it? The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association Limited, ISME, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, IBEC, Chambers Ireland, Retail Excellence Ireland and the Retail, Grocery, Dairy & Allied Trades' Association, RGDATA, as well as the rest of the organisations all wish to know the Minister's thinking on the matter.

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