Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In many ways, the Minister's job is to manage the area of enterprise, innovation and jobs. I cannot think of another manager who would state that he or she did not wish to know a significant piece of information that would be a building block to that person's ability to manage the sector. It is inconceivable that anybody would shut the door and declare he or she did not wish to know.

The profitability of a particular business in Ireland is an issue of huge importance on a range of levels. It is very difficult for a government to be able to plan properly for taxation or for competition, or to plan properly to ensure there is no abuse of power unless this information is known. Resigning oneself to blissful ignorance on this vital issue is not good enough. I believe that when one takes a profit out of the country, one has a responsibility to that country. There is a need to move towards a business model of transparency, in which ethical business is based on the fact that the people engaging with that business know exactly what is happening to their euro and what profits are being made.

Our ability to rate businesses progressively is severely hampered by the absence of information on the profits being made by large retail companies. Indigenous retailers located on street corners are struggling to keep the shutters up and the lights on, yet they are rated at a level similar to some of the largest retailers, including Tesco, which are taking substantial profits out of the country.

Sinn Féin strongly supports the concept of progressive rates. The majority of organisations representing retailers that appeared before the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation stated that rates must be applied progressively. It will be impossible to introduce a progressive rate until we ascertain how much profits various companies are making. Access to this critical information will be key to the Minister's ability to make decisions. In that context, it is impossible to comprehend his statement that he does not want to know.

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