Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Then I hope Deputy Spring will follow it up with amendments and that the Government will take them on board because, in fairness, many of his suggestions were valid.

This debate is about listening to all sides of the House to see how we can improve this Bill. While I acknowledge what has been done in the area of foreign direct investment by IDA Ireland, that is not being done to support the SMEs in Ireland today. In the past number of years, the SME sector has been put to the pin of its collar and when one looks at the major costs associated with doing business, rates are the third biggest cost after labour and rent. If we look at what this Government has done on labour and rent, it has contributed to that.

The Government parties, in advance of the last general election, got significant support from the retail sector. They took out major advertising on Grafton Street and on many of the media associated with business, stating they would abolish upward-only rent reviews. That was a firm commitment. I understand the person who gave them the legal advice to say it was legally possible to do is the same person who is giving legal advice now having secured a seat around the Cabinet table to say it is not possible to do, and that is wrong. It was wrong to make a promise like that in advance of the election.

If one looks at the second cost, the cost of labour, the changes that the Government made to increase employers' PRSI has also contributed to the cost of doing business in this country.

If we look at the town centres - the Minister of State will forgive me for being parochial in looking at Mullingar, Athlone and Longford - some are doing better than others. In walking up and down any of our towns one sees a trend, unfortunately not exclusive to my constituency as it is the same the length and breadth of this country, of businesses closing and retail units lying vacant. Some areas are better than others. Thankfully, in Mullingar there are not too many vacant units at present, but the businesses there are put to the pin of their collar. Twelve months ago, I held a meeting on revitalising the retail sector in Mullingar. Over 100 businesses came to see what they could do better to revitalise their business because they want to help themselves and one of the main issues they felt was having a negative impact was commercial rates.

The Bill will quite simply tinker around the edges. I firmly believe we should be looking at abolishing the current system and start from scratch. The Minister of State, Deputy Harris, is a Minister I respect. He is an able person. Nowhere was that more evident than on Monday night, and I congratulate him for that.

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