Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I am well aware that this scheme is the responsibility of Minister, Deputy Burton, as are small businesses throughout the country because this is the third budget in a row in which she has specifically gone after small businesses. We have had redundancy rebate changes, the change to the sick pay scheme and the increase in employer's PRSI with the so-called jobs budget rate increasing from 4.5% to 8.5%. Collectively, they have been a huge hit on small businesses. We had very successful Central Statistics Office figures published yesterday, which I acknowledged at a committee last night, but they are coming from small businesses that are creating the jobs on the ground. They are using the chances that have been given to them. The Minister, Deputy Burton, in particular, seems determined to be some sort of Dick Turpin-type character in that she keeps coming at them and imposing more charges on them. This is an additional cost to an employer. If an employee who earns €300 a week is off sick for a week, this measure alone will impose an extra €94 on the employer, without touching the employer's PRSI, which will impose a huge burden on employers, and meanwhile the Minister continues to let her do that. We need the Minister to stand up to the Minister, Deputy Burton, in the interests of small business and tell her to get her charities elsewhere.

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