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

I am acutely aware of the importance of the retail sector in the Irish economy. The combined wholesale and retail sector in Ireland employs 273,000 people which is one in every seven working in Ireland at the end of 2012. The sector also supports employment in other related services such as transport and logistics. A number of bodies represent different parts of the retail sector, with RGData representing independent family-owned grocery shops, convenience stores, forecourt stores and supermarkets. I launched the first of AIB's series of outlook reports for the SME sector on Friday, 19 April. It is a very detailed report on the retail sector. As that report was focused on the retail sector and undertaken in conjunction with RGData I met with the director general of RGData at that event and on numerous other occasions. In addition RGData was part of the local jobs alliance delegation which met with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, in September 2012.

In addition, a representative of RGDATA, the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Trades Association, sits on the high level group on business regulation, which I chair, so we engage regularly on issues relevant to the retail and small business sector through that forum, including the meeting on 30 January last. RGDATA has been active in making input in many areas affecting the business climate and many of the reforms introduced by the Government have responded to these concerns.

In recognising the importance of the retail sector to the economy, the 2013 Action Plan for Jobs contains several measures aimed at supporting the sector. We are currently introducing new initiatives including the rationalisation of 25 retail licences and provision of a single retail licensing system which will cut down on regulation; promoting a proposed competitive voucher scheme to assist retailers to go online and strengthening the Credit Review Office to deal with problems in getting access to finance.

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There will also be the integration of local authority business support into a stronger local enterprise office to support the emergence of a better local environment for micro and small businesses. In addition, the Government has committed to establishing an interdepartmental group to undertake a short examination of possible further measures to assist the retail sector, which could, for example, be considered in the context of the budget or the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs. The group will comprise key Departments and will consult with relevant stakeholders across the retail sector as part of its work. RGDATA will be one of the representative bodies which is consulted as part of that examination of the retail sector.

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