Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Just like the Tesco ad, the truth hurts here. So anxious was the Government to assist that person in applying for the job in Canada that it provided information on the CV format Canadian employers like to see. This is the truth - a letter from the Irish Government. The person was informed on the back of the letter of a whole range of vacancies in Canada which could be applied for - vacancies in cabinet making, carpentry, fence building, glazing, finishing carpentry and so forth. God knows how many people have received this letter from the Department of Social Protection, but when we combine it with the Minister's decision today to cut the jobseeker's allowance rate for young people, what message does this send out to the young people of Ireland? It gives them the message that they are not wanted here, there is no future in this country for them and they are better off going abroad to Canada. That is the message people will hear from the budget today and it is the message in the letter they are getting from the Department of Social Protection.

While multinationals remain a critical part of our economy, Fianna Fáil believes that not enough attention has been paid to the indigenous economy, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. The Minister has announced a number of measures in his package today which, to be frank, are underwhelming. To use the Minister's terminology, there are "a few bits and bobs". That is about it; there is nothing of any great significance. I sincerely hope these measures are more successful than the measures he introduced last year. The take-up of the microfinance loan scheme has been minimal and the scheme is already under review. The temporary partial loan guarantee scheme has had an exceptionally low take-up and is being re-examined because of its limited application. The Minister is giving a two-year tax holiday for unemployed people who start up a new business and is providing for a whopping €1 million as a cost, because he knows well that the last thing unemployed people starting a new business are worried about is their taxation bill and profits for the first two years. This is the kind of window dressing we get from the Government when it comes to job creation.

The lack of credit is hampering many business and we would like to see far more innovative measures to address this, such as tax relief for individuals and making loan capital investment to SMEs. We would like to see a special low capital gains tax rate for new entrepreneurs starting up businesses, not the type of cumbersome roll-over relief on capital gains tax he has announced today. We believe that a State-backed enterprise or investment bank should be considered for the provision of capital to growing businesses. This could be done by means of a stand-alone bank or by using the infrastructure that exists within Permanent TSB. Such a model is already well established in Canada, the US, Germany and is currently under development in the United Kingdom.

In many respects, the main issues that affect small and medium-sized businesses in Ireland did not even warrant a mention in the budget. We know electricity and gas prices are going up for businesses and we know they are crippled by the burden of local authority rates. We know revaluations going on throughout the country are causing havoc for SMEs, leading in many cases to dramatic increases in the rates burden they face.

We know the collapse in property values has contaminated many good trading businesses and there is a need for a new approach in this area. The banks need to be required to restructure SME debt to ensure viable businesses can continue to grow and expand. Today the Minister announced illness benefit will not be paid for the first six days a person is out sick. I presume where an employer has a sick pay policy he or she will have to pick up the tab for the extra three days.

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