Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I propose to share time with Deputy Michael Colreavy. Cuirim fáilte roimh an rún. Tugann ár bpáirtí tacaíocht do chuspóirí an rúin atá os ár gcomhair.

There can be no recovery in our society without the support of our SME sector. Seventy percent of people employed in Ireland are employed in the SME sector. That is an incredible statistic, which should put in sharp focus where most workers work. Last year, a tiny number of jobs were created outside the greater Dublin area. Since this Government came to power, four people have left for every one job created. Those in the west and north west are all too aware of the regional imbalances, which have been made worse by the complete collapse in capital investment that this Government seems to pride itself on. The potential jobs in rebuilding our infrastructure are not being created, while our infrastructure crumbles, unless one thinks of Irish Water as a good example of State capital investment.

It has been a characteristic of this economy for decades that our entire industrial policy is predicated on attracting foreign direct investment to the State. FDI plays a huge and essential part in our economy, but it is only common sense not to put all our eggs in the one basket. Ultimately, multinationals will go where their profits can be maximised. In this day and age of modern technology, multinationals are freer than in the past to move at short notice to new bases. Increasingly, the economic statistics of the entire State can be distorted by the FDI sector. This was clear with last year's growth figures, where contract manufacturing made up half of the growth, an anomaly as reported by the CSO.

SMEs, on the other hand, are tied to the local community and will remain so. We are grateful that this is the case. They are the core of the real economy and the bedrock on which all economic development must be built and maintained. We could be forgiven for asking where are the special tax deals for SMEs. Does the Government roll out the red carpet for SMEs or bend the rules when asked? If we are to have a fair recovery, our economic policy should maintain a strong attraction for FDI but also give due importance to SMEs.

I agree with the proposal in the motion to begin a process whereby the self-employed can voluntarily sign up to the social insurance system and avail of jobseeker’s benefit and illness benefit. It is something my party has long called for, and in my time in the Seanad I articulated the point time and again. There is certainly a disparity in tax treatment between PAYE workers and the self-employed, but that does not mean the self-employed are necessarily disadvantaged in all cases. A much wider range of allowances are available to the self-employed, and that must be factored into any discussion on taxation of PAYE workers and the self-employed.

Where Sinn Féin has differed from the cosy consensus of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party is that our economic vision is about building a sustainable economy, not simply rebuilding the house that collapsed. We do not believe in trying to rebuild on flimsy foundations. We believe in real growth in the Irish economy and a fair recovery. It is not a sudden conversion to the idea of growth that the Government is embracing. We did not wait years for growth but made it clear our policies would have brought it about. The effect of Sinn Féin’s policies would have been to boost, not reduce, consumer demand. It was about putting money back into people’s pockets, money that could be spent in local businesses and the local economy. Over the past seven years, since the crisis began, the biggest factor that has hurt SMEs and the self-employed is the austerity policies peddled by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party, which reduced domestic demand and took many businesses to the wall or put them under severe pressure.

Our party favours progressive policies that would support our SME sector. Specifically, we have argued for the abolition of upward-only rent reviews. If Labour Party Deputies were in the Chamber, they might remember the policy. Without any evidence, we were told that this raised constitutional issues, but we have advice to the contrary. In the case of the IBRC liquidation, these property rights that the Government spearheads could be overridden for the common good. For city centre shopkeepers in particular, the problem has not gone away. Small businesses, including the mortgage holders of IBRC, are now in the hands of vultures. Some SMEs cannot establish who owns their loans now. That is the esteem in which this Government holds SMEs.

The cost of electricity and other utilities is a major weight on SMEs. A cap on these costs should be considered for a period. A more progressive rates system, something Sinn Féin has called for over a number of years, should be on the table. Nobody argues that a flat tax on income is equitable, yet when it comes to business rates, we expect an SME to pay the same rate as a multinational or a branch of a large supermarket chain, for example. These are just some of the proposals we published last year in our Putting SMEs First strategy. There are many others, such as a Border corridor zone that would have an impact on businesses in that area as a result of fluctuating currencies and differing laws and regulations on either side.

We have mentioned procurement, an issue Deputy Mary Lou McDonald has been raising for many years in this Chamber.

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