Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome an opportunity to contribute to the debate.

The self-employed and micro, small and medium-sized businesses play a pivotal role in the Irish economy, with 350,000 self-employed and 580,000 working in enterprises of 50 employees or less. The annual results for the local enterprise offices showed at the end of 2014 the total of direct employment of the 6,058 client companies stood at 31,326. There were 7,305 new jobs created during 2014 in gross terms. Taking into account the losses in 2014, there was an increase of 14% in those employed in the companies which are clients of the local enterprise offices. However, there are some barriers which hinder growth in the area.

There is an urgent need to end a discrimination of the self-employed and small businesses. The key issues identified include the tax discrepancy between the self-employed and PAYE earners. There is also a discrepancy in benefits from the Department of Social Protection. This manifested itself during the economic crash when I met a former self-employed person who was dependent on extended family to feed his family. The person told me that after six months his brother could not continue supporting two families. It took much persuasion for the Department to grant unemployment assistance but that improved over the period.

Other difficulties identified include training and development supports, such as mentoring. There are also difficulties with succession and there must be ease of transition of business ownership down through family generations.

There is also a need for better communications regarding existing State supports, including the SME online information. The supporting online tool brings together 80 Government business supports into one website to help small businesses obtain information and avail of the supports available to them. However, more needs to be done to communicate this information.

The economic recovery now presents opportunities for small businesses and the self-employed that did not exist this time last year and we must ensure that the State helps them to take advantage of this. Small businesses are the cornerstone of the sustainable economy in cities, towns and villages.

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