Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity of speaking to the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013. I welcome also that the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, is in the Chamber. In addition to examining the legislation I will also put forward some sensible proposals.

I welcome the legislation and this debate as small businesses need our support at this difficult time in the country's economic history. We all accept that. A state that does not support its small and medium businesses is a state that is going nowhere in that it is neglecting its future and the future of its children. In recent days we have seen that, even against the odds, the SME sector is fighting back by retaining existing jobs and creating others in the current economic climate. I welcome that because there should not be any political point-scoring when it comes to this issue.

In dealing with the issue of our economy and the future of this country, we must all focus on job creation, and a strong SME sector is vital in that regard. It is important to state that. We must also recognise people who come up with new ideas and schemes to create jobs. That is being done in the food sector, and those in the tourism industry are filling hotel rooms and taking on new staff. Those are the areas on which we must keep an eye in terms of job creation but we have a Minister who is considering reintroducing the holy hour or closing pubs at 2.30 p.m. as part of some weird health policy.

He needs to wake up and smell the coffee because nowadays the pub is about food as well as about serving alcohol and drinks. Food is a very important part of the pub trade. I urge caution in terms of anybody trying to damage that sector because the serving of food, in particular between 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and in the evening, has huge potential. Pubs are employing young people and are taking on extra staff, which the Minister identified in recent interviews. This is an extra dimension to the pub in the context of the tourism sector. It is important Ministers keep their eye on the ball in regard to this issue.

We need constant reform and new ideas which will create jobs. It is the duty of the Opposition to challenge and hold this Government to account. It is also the duty of the Government to listen to new and constructive proposals to assist job creation and small companies, with which I will deal later.

This Bill seeks to facilitate low cost Circuit Court examinership for small businesses. Currently, the examinership process can only be initiated through the High Court. This Bill also enables the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority to impose a levy to cover the cost of carrying out quality assurance of statutory auditors and firms. The examinership provisions were envisaged in the Companies Bill 2012 and these are being fast-tracked. Essentially, that is what this legislation is about and we need to be very conscious of the details of it. As I said, I welcome the legislation and will support it because if somebody comes up with an idea which will help job creation and small businesses, we should give it our full support, regardless of our politics.

It is important the Government, the Minister and Members on all sides of the House are open to new ideas. I would like to put forward a number of ideas to assist businesses and companies, some of which I would like the Minister and the Government to consider. Would the Government think about having an entrepreneur loan scheme? Many people laid off work are experts in their areas and many consider setting up small businesses or becoming their own boss. However, a major block is resources but for a small outlay of as little as €10,000, many of them could get underway and set up a basic home office, buy tools, etc. Those who do this may find the business is successful and, therefore, will not need unemployment benefit. It is also crucial to encourage those with such talents away from nixers and the black economy.

An entrepreneur loan scheme should be established. This would work very well and on a similar basis to student loan schemes for third level education in other jurisdictions. I propose that a person could apply for a loan from the Government that would be limited to a small amount and that nothing would need to be paid back for the first two years of the enterprise. If the business is successful, the loan would be repaid out of the business over the following five years. If the business fails, the loan could be repaid via social welfare or Revenue or over a long period of say eight years. I am talking about giving a start-up loan where people have constructive ideas and need to get businesses up and running.

In terms of the cost, the exposure of the taxpayer would be very limited as the money would be repaid, unless the individual left the country and even in that case, the individual would no longer be claiming unemployment benefit. It would encourage small-scale entrepreneurship which may allow some people to come off unemployment benefit. It offers a greater opportunity for the individual than having to approach a bank. As the Government could pretty much guarantee repayment, the individual would not have to jump through hoops to obtain the loan. It would be a business decision on his or her part. That is a proposal about which I would like the Minister to think.

There has been much talk and hype about third level education. Why do we not consider setting up a special group tasked with identifying foreign firms, in particular in the UK and US, which have strong growth potential but which may not have become multinational as yet? These would be medium-sized firms with potential to grow in highly skilled areas. The group should seek to establish links between the Irish third level sector and firms for research and development purposes. Firms at this level may have limited research and development facilities and problems getting access to universities. The aim should be to ask them to establish incubator units in conjunction with the universities and institutes of technology in Ireland. That may offer a platform to encourage them to move their research and development to Ireland. That is a second proposal at which I would like the Minister and the Government to look.

A number of people have asked me to raise the issue of PRSI. It is time to look at and come up with new radical ideas, although I am not saying all of these will be workable. For example, we could have an employer PRSI waiver in order to attract major foreign direct investment. Large firms proposing to locate in Ireland and employing in excess of 300 people could be entitled to an employer PRSI waiver for the first three years. This should not be limited to employees taken off the dole as this is too narrow to be attractive to a firm. Even if employees move from another job, it still creates openings in the market. There is a hit here for the Exchequer but, alternatively, it would be handing out money for unemployment benefit and such major foreign direct investment in Ireland is the quickest route to reducing unemployment. We need to look at these ideas.

An important issue on which we have not touched and about which we hear from small businesses is commercial rates. For owners of small businesses employing 15 to 20 people and small pubs and restaurants to have to pay say €37,000 in commercial rates for the year before they get out of bed in the morning is a very difficult hit. I urge the Government and the Minister to look at that issue. These commercial rates are squeezing small businesses. A number of my colleagues mentioned rent, which is another major hit for them. Local authorities need to wake up.

We had a very good debate in the House last Friday on town centres and moving the economy into them. We need to come up with new ideas. We must look at reducing costs for small businesses so they can take people off the dole. That must be drummed into this Government because it seems to be going around this week accepting that everything is fine. I accept there has been a major improvement in the number of jobs created but we need come up with new ideas.

In 2012, 32 companies went into examinership, 16 with a normal status, eight in liquidation, one in receivership and seven still in examinership. In the programme for Government, this Government promised to introduce new legally binding voluntary commercial debt plan structures to allow small businesses to restructure debts without recourse to expensive court procedures. This was included in its Action Plan for Jobs. The Government said it would examine the feasibility of introducing a new structured and non-judicial debt settlement and enforcement system to meet SME needs. That is very important, is part of the reform agenda and is why I support this legislation. If somebody comes up with a Bill which is strong, tight and will help SMEs, one has to go for it, in particular in the current economic climate where every job created is a major bonus for the State.

It is important to look at Dublin.

I know the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, is always pushing Westport.

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