Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Technical Group for sharing time and I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State.

I also welcome the extension of the fuel rebate because when the budget was announced, I was disappointed. I welcomed the provision of the rebate for haulage contracts but, at the time, it was a mistake to leave out bus tour operators. I very much welcome the fact the Minister took on board my lobbying and that of members of his own party and the Opposition and the constructive submissions put forward on behalf of the industry, which highlighted that the income of tour operators was falling because of competition and increasing costs. A rebate had been provided in the past for coach operators but it was abolished a number of years ago. He has, therefore, restored it to a sector that had it in the past.

While the rebate is welcome, I would like him to go further and increase it because these people are losing business to operators from Northern Ireland who are able to take their business because they have access to cheaper fuel. A number of bus companies are run by families who have one or two buses and who do school runs. They are still finding it hard to make a living because the rates were much higher a few years ago while costs were much lower. The cost of insurance and motor taxes have increased while fuel prices and high labour costs are crippling the industry. Previously in the House, I asked why the Government could not have more vision to introduce an imaginative way of changing the tax take from fuel.

The average price of fuel is between €1.50 and €1.60 per litre. If the Government were to be imaginative and tax only the first €1 of the cost of a litre of fuel, in other words, tax would no longer be applied above a threshold of €1, people would be encouraged to travel more, more fuel would be used and the cost of work would decrease. Everything revolves around fuel, which is used by agricultural contractors, farmers and people travelling to work and making deliveries to shops. It would make a major difference to everyone if the Government took an imaginative approach to the tax it imposes on fuel.

It costs €80 or €90 to fill the fuel tank of an ordinary vehicle. Even if this cost were to fall to €40 or €50, it would still be expensive to fill up on fuel. Not many people outside the transport business realise that the articulated lorries used in haulage can hold €1,600 worth of diesel. If the cost of filling a lorry's fuel tank were halved to €600 or €700, fuel costs would still be substantial. I hope the Government will reduce the tax on fuel.

Small businesses must continue to be the backbone of the economy. A small business provides employment for the owner and perhaps a family member or neighbour and, if successful, it will create another couple of jobs. I am disappointed more was not done for small business in the budget and Finance Bill. While I acknowledge certain reliefs and tax credits were provided for companies engaged in research and development, these incentives are not enough. The Bill shows a lack of vision on the part of the Government.

Having run a small shop in a rural location for more than 20 years, I know at first hand how difficult it is to keep a small business going. Every day, one is burdened with various types of regulation, problems and difficulties. The Minister of State, Deputy Perry, may be interested in the following example of bureaucracy gone mad. Officials from the Health Service Executive will often visit small businesses such as shops with a delicatessen counter. HSE inspectors told the owner of one shop with a delicatessen counter to remove stools positioned at the counter because people were not allowed to eat a sandwich purchased in the shop on the premises unless the owner went to the expense of installing a male, female and disabled person's toilet. Small, struggling businesses cannot afford to do this. It is ridiculous to order the removal of stools from such shops to discourage people from consuming on the premises items they have purchased in a shop. Small businesses must try to live with these types of regulations every day.

While I appreciate the endeavours of the Government in trying to attract foreign investment, Ministers should not stand outside airports gazing into the skies in the hope that a foreign investor will land and create thousands of jobs. That will not happen. The Government should focus solely on trying to encourage the growth of more small businesses. It must not ignore the most important task, namely, the need to maintain, sustain and encourage existing businesses.

The closure of a small business has a knock-on effect. The most hurtful thing one can have on any street or village is a closed door. I am glad my constituency colleague, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, is present because he knows that my local area has been hit hard by the closure of small businesses. The village I come from once had 26 shops and six pubs but now has only two shops and two pubs. The continuing decline in small businesses is dealing an awful blow to rural Ireland. Governments, past and present, have let down those involved in small business. There is no broad vision for society and no jump-start for jobs.

Foreign investment is vital and we appreciate the multinational companies which have located here and created jobs. Liebherr cranes in Killarney, for example, has provided thousands of valuable jobs since locating in County Kerry 50 or 60 years ago. This has also had major spin-off effects. To return to the closure of small businesses, when a door closes it seldom re-opens. Earlier this year, we were informed that up to 800 pubs will close in 2013. This is a startling statistic. Every one of these pubs provides employment for its owner as well as part-time and full-time work for others. I do not see anything being done to help the pub trade or try to keep these businesses afloat.

Before the most recent general election, the Fine Gael Party and Labour Party promised to abolish upward only rents. They should not have made a promise the Government would not keep. Rents have continued to increase and many people feel very sore about the Government's broken promise. No one asked Fine Gael and the Labour Party to make this commitment before the election, yet they did so and quickly forgot about it when they were elected.

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