John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The retail and wholesale sector employs 258,000 people in Ireland, almost 15% of our total workforce. That sector has suffered heavy job losses in this recession, shedding over 55,000 jobs. The retail sector is very much dependent on domestic demand and this has suffered a substantial fall in the course of the crisis.

All of the Government programmes designed to restore economic confidence, economic sovereignty and international investment are part of the long-term restoration of the retail sector. Progress is being made on all of these fronts. We have already cut the lower rate of VAT, halved the lower rate of employers' PRSI and improved the employers PRSI exemption scheme and Revenue job assist for recruits from the live register. Recognising its importance to the economy, the action plan for jobs includes a number of specific measures aimed at supporting employment in the retail sector. These include improved access to finance through the microenterprise loan fund and the loan guarantee scheme, the enactment of legislation to reform the statutory wage setting mechanism, an audit of the licences required to start-up businesses, with a view to their simplification, and a renewed focus on prompt payments, the introduction of a statutory code of practice for grocery goods undertakings, the provision of support to retail firms seeking to internationalise, the provision of funding for the upskilling of workers in the sector and the promotion of the use of online tools to promote sales.

The retail sector must be innovative to overcome the difficulties posed by the current climate and our policies seek to support that innovation.

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