Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State but he should compare that answer to the answer given for the manufacturing sector, which had specific initiatives, task forces, reporting deadlines and job targets. This Government is doing nothing specific for the retail sector. The Minister of State listed the measures under the action plan for jobs, but nothing specific is being done by the Department to assist the retail sector, which is in huge distress at present. Fine Gael was elected promising to abolish upward only rent reviews, although it was aware that was not legally possible when it made that promise. The Minister of State talked about access to credit. When travelling the country to talk to retailers, the Minister of State hears directly from them that there is no access to credit in that sector.

We have four or five weeks ahead of us that will be make or break for many retailers for the next year. We accept that consumer demand is very weak but it is unacceptable that the Government has nothing specific in place to assist the retail sector apart from general responses from a document that essentially contains a lot of spin, accentuated by the specific focus and initiatives for manufacturing. Is there an assistant secretary in the Department who is in charge of retail and of the 258,000 working in that sector? As the Minister of State establishes the local enterprise offices, why has the retail sector been excluded from the process when it is the basis of local enterprise?

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