Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We must acknowledge that Irish shoppers spent €3.8 billion in online trading in 2012. Some 75% of the revenue goes outside the State. While I acknowledge the points made by the Deputy, we must tackle this through Deputy Tóibín's committee, which will do some work on town centre planning. If we are talking about retailers, which he mentioned, it is a question of how town centres are structured and how we encourage greater trading. I am sure the work of the Deputy's committee will feed into the retail consultation forum. It is important to state that the retail consultation forum comprises retail Retail Ireland, Retail Excellence Ireland, RGDATA, Chambers Ireland, the Small Firms Association and individual retail practitioners. Through that consultation process, we will address issues like town centre shopping, e-commerce, driving more business online from Irish retailers, and the cost to business of retail. There are specific issues in the grocery sector that require to be addressed. We must look at budget 2015 to see if there is any way of enhancing demand through the process. We must also look at the Action Plan for Jobs 2015, the home renovation incentive scheme and the impact of the 9% VAT rate.

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