Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I too welcome the Bill. As part of the Government's ongoing strategy on an action plan for jobs, it fits in with the other initiatives including the credit guarantee scheme, the innovation fund and the development capital scheme, all of which target different scales of operation.

Jobs are the key to economic and social stability in any nation and in this State. Job creation must be the key objective of the Government. Multinational companies, small and medium business and larger indigenous businesses are located in different sectors and all of them must be encouraged and supported.

This fund targets the microbusinesses that are starting up or already established who employ ten or fewer people. That is an important sector. A piece of work done some years ago by a Mr. Ahern in Teagasc in Cork found that there were 52 local economies in the countries which are centred around provincial towns with a hinterland of agriculture and a mix of small, medium and very large businesses.

In terms of small businesses, four issues have been addressed in the debate which must be considered. The first issue is the lack of finance, which inhibits small businesses establishing, continuing or surviving. The second issue, which was mentioned by Deputy Heydon and others, is rates. That was raised earlier by another contributor who decried it. Yet, when we try to spread the cost of running local authorities to a broader base there is an outcry. We must be honest about the way we will fund local government.

The third issue is the problem of not having a safety net if one starts one's own business. Deputy McGrath and Deputy Heydon mentioned that people are afraid to start their own business and establish an asset. I know of one individual who had paid €3 million in taxes including PAYE, PRSI, his own income tax and VAT in a plant hire business that went out of business. When all of his staff were let go they got jobseeker's benefit immediately but because he had some listed properties, which were his only option in terms of a pension, he was not entitled to anything. While he could start his own business and claim back some of the PAYE he paid in recent years, which is a welcome initiative, when that traumatic event took place he was left high and dry. He employed fewer than ten people. He had a big turnover and a big tax bill. He paid huge costs by way of extra revenue taxes on fuel.

The issue of redundancy was mentioned. That issue can be resolved but unless we support small businesses in a co-ordinated fashion and people with a good idea we will never rebuild local economies. Like farm revenue, local small businesses spend 70% or 80% of their income locally. That creates local jobs, and we must concentrate on nurturing those small businesses.

I welcome the efforts to streamline the mentoring system, be it through the county enterprise boards and the local enterprise offices. Those are the initiatives that must be taken. Putting the funding in place is welcome but that funding is for people who have been refused previously because they did not fit the banks' strict lending criteria. They must be helped. The people who will work with those people must recognise a good idea that is viable.

This scheme will only be as good as the people who are mentoring, and I appeal to those involved to ensure that the people who are mentoring, and the people who come to them, understand the concept of doing business and creating a job or ten jobs. I commend the Bill for what it is intended to do.

See this speech in context