Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I take it the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, has drawn the short straw as he is responding to all the Topical Issues this evening. With no disrespect to him - he is a Minister of State I admire and he has been obliging to me in the past and is very approachable - this is disgraceful on a day when we talk about political reform. The Government promised that the Topical Issues Debate would be taken earlier in the day and would be answered by the Minister responsible for the issue raised.

Having said that, I welcome the opportunity to put on the record of the House the crisis facing many of our towns. Every day businesses are closing down. I see the Minister of State nodding in agreement because I am sure it is happening in his constituency as it is happening in mine. Less money is in circulation and yet business costs are increasing as opposed to decreasing.

The Government is doing absolutely nothing to address this. Businesses believe, rightly, that this Government is not doing anything to help them. Prior to the last general election, the Minister of State's party made a great play by saying it would abolish upward-only rent reviews. The Labour Party has reneged on this. It is a major issue for many in the retail sector.

There is a major issue with commercial rates and the method of calculating commercial rates is archaic and outdated. It needs to be addressed now. I have spoken to people in businesses in Mullingar, Athlone and Longford. They all tell me that this is one of their biggest overheads, an overhead that is totally and utterly controlled by the State. Energy costs have risen significantly. There have been double-digit increases in recent years in this area and the Government has allowed the Commission for Energy Regulation to pass on those increases to businesses.

I have been contacted by people in several businesses who are at their wits' end. They are not getting any support from the State or from the banks. These are men and women who have invested their time, money and many of their own resources to create jobs in our towns, but they are not being supported. The Government introduced the Living City Initiative for the city of Limerick only. Will the Government consider expanding that in order that businesses in all towns will be able to benefit if they reinvest in the community?

The Minister of State may not be able to answer my next question. Where do Mullingar, Athlone and Mullingar stand in respect of the national spatial strategy? It was announced that the Government was reviewing the national spatial strategy but businesses in those areas are unsure when the review will be completed and what the outcome will be.

Longford town has been totally forgotten by this Government. It has had no IDA visits in the past two years. Despite the lack of support from the State, the local authority, local businesses and the local chamber of commerce are doing their best. They are running a project, supported by Leader programme, as part of which last year they renovated 48 derelict buildings and unoccupied shops to ensure that the physical appearance of the town was kept well. This year, the project had a further 37 premises to work on, but what has happened? The Leader project funding that they had been reliant on has been cut. The Leader programme was a great support for the town, supporting market days and such initiatives.

What is the Government going to do? I acknowledge that the Government has had success in the foreign direct investment area and in attracting multinationals to the country. However, for the past two and half years the Government has taken its eye off the ball in respect of small and medium-sized businesses, indigenous firms and family businesses on the streets of every town throughout the country. What is the Government is going to do? The Government must prioritise investment and support job creation in this vital sector.

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