Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy McGuinness on his Bill. I have not been in the Dáil for long, but whoever wrote the Minister of State's speech never created a job. Nor could anyone read and believe what the speech contained.

I am talking about people who take chances and entrepreneurs who try to create employment, many of whom have had to go into banks on a Friday evening because they were struggling to pay wages. They have received letters from these banks with red writing at the bottom of them. They are trying to create a country of small and medium-sized enterprises. We have come into the Dáil Chamber today because a Deputy is trying to propose something constructive, but his Bill has been turned down and faults have been found in it. I would like to know why, as politicians, we cannot try to work together here.

The reality is that rates are the single biggest issue in all parts of Ireland, especially the towns that are in decline. All of us who have been members of councils know that the hands of councils are tied. If they agree to decrease rates, they will not have enough funds. I will give an example. Some €14.7 million was collected through the household charge in one county. In that case, 80% of the money was kept, while 20% had to be sent back. Some €2.7 million was whipped away from that county. While I know that the money has to go to some other county, the money that always came from the local government fund from day one is completely gone. If we want to keep burying our heads in the sand by denying this is happening in every part of Ireland, we can do so, but we will have more children jumping onto aeroplanes to fly to Australia and Canada. A good friend of mine has moved his business to Canada, but the guy is actually fabricating steel in Ireland. He is trying to provide work. He will tell us that the Canadian authorities are pro-business and will do whatever they can. In Ireland we put obstacle after obstacle in front of people who want to be entrepreneurs. I will give a perfect example. It relates to a person who was prepared to put his hand in his pocket to buy a hotel in the small town of Ballinlough, County Roscommon. The annual rates on that building which had not been open for seven years were €40,000. The man in question put a proposal to the county council, but it was turned down. I am not blaming the council; I am blaming the Government for not introducing an initiative that would start the revival of small towns in rural Ireland. The man in question was prepared to pay €40,000 over three years, but the best the council could do was €39,000 per annum. As result, the deal is off and the place is closed. The ten, 12 or 15 jobs, from which the Government could have received taxes, are gone.

We should not talk about reviving rural Ireland unless we are prepared to take risks and introduce new initiatives to revive businesses throughout the country. The owners of pubs, crèches and shops are on their knees. I would like to put a suggestion to the Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, and hopes he writes it down. It relates to someone with a new initiative in a town who is at least 10 km from somebody else who is doing the same thing. Why do we not do something that would involve payments of 25% in the first year, 50% in the second, 75% in the third and 100% in the fourth? Why do we not try to be imaginative? If we were to provide incentives such as that I have proposed, somebody might look around and say, "there is nobody engaged in that business in this town." We can create young entrepreneurs by giving them incentives to do things that are not being done in different towns. We should not continue to deny the facts by perpetuating the myth that services are being provided in return for the charges being paid, including water rates. It struck me yesterday when I heard people talking about the council reviewing the non-domestic rates for water in the coming months that if we wanted to keep kicking business, that was fine, but what would happen? The doors would close and there would be more mothers and fathers crying at airports because their sons and daughters had gone.

I ask the Minister of State to listen to the Opposition and people in business, including Deputy John McGuinness. The Government should listen to those who have proved that they know how to run businesses, rather than ministerial speech-writers who have not created one job in their lives. As we are talking about small businesses, it is worth mentioning that fabrication companies around the country are facing bills of €25,000 to be accredited. We know what they went through when the bubble burst. They kept on one in two employees, but because of legislation introduced by the great European Union on CE marking - I refer to EN 1090 - they are facing bills of €25,000 to be accredited. How can any small business withstand that pressure? If we do not decide to put trainers or something in place for the likes of them, we will be saying "bye bye" to more children and skills. I have given a document to the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, on the skills required around the country and certain tweaks needed to create 5,000 or 6,000 jobs. Having spoken to people involved in businesses throughout the country, I guarantee that if we continue to bury our heads in the sand - for example, by being against businesses, rather than being proactive - the stark reality is that more and more people will leave the country.

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