John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute briefly to this debate, which is timely. As stated by previous speakers, while much of the focus in the past three or four years has been on the large multinationals and foreign direct investment that has helped to rescue the country and provide 80,000 new jobs here, there is much that needs to happen under the radar. In my own constituency of Mayo, there has been a 16% decrease in unemployment. A major contributor in this regard has been, as stated by Deputy Fitzmaurice, the one or two jobs created by small businesses.

I welcome that the Action Plan for Jobs 2015 introduced by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, focuses on small business and the need to increase supports in this area and to ensure businesses are aware of the supports available on a one-stop-shop basis through the local enterprise offices and so on. The plan also contains measures to reduce the amount of red tape in this area and to support job creation in the domestic economy, in particular in the retail, construction, agriculture and food sectors. As stated by Deputy Fitzmaurice, there is a need to end the discriminatory tax treatment of the self-employed and to allow them access entitlements when their business fails and they become unemployed. People must be encouraged to take risks. There needs to be a safety net in place for the people and entrepreneurs who create business and jobs. I understand that the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, is addressing those issues. I hope that some of them will be reflected in the upcoming budget.

It is important to highlight the plight of the SME sector and the self-employed. In my estimation, this problem first arose between 2003 and 2004 and again in 2008 when the Celtic tiger and construction was the only show in town. While SMEs did not need support during that period, it was also not available. Work around the putting in place of the necessary supports required has been ongoing during the past few years of this Government's term in office. This needs to continue and the issues raised by other speakers need to be addressed soon.

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