Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also wish both the Minister and the Minister of State the best of luck in their new portfolios.

Like Deputy Troy, I will be parochial in my comments and I will make no apology for it. My constituency - I represent Tipperary - has been seriously neglected over a number of years. The figure for unemployment in the south east is 11.9% and I guarantee that for south Tipperary it is higher. There are 7,193 people on the live register in south Tipperary. In north Tipperary, the corresponding figure is 6,475, which is an increase of 163 since January.

I will make a number of points, the first of which is on the IDA Ireland structure in Tipperary, which is split with two management levels, one in south Tipperary and one in north Tipperary. This does not make for efficient operation of the agency. Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland have not focused enough on my county. In 2015, in north Tipperary, we had only five visits from IDA Ireland. Unfortunately, we have had a considerable number of factory closures in Tipperary in the recent years. It is far easier to name off the closures than to talk about the success stories in Tipperary. We have had factory closures in the past couple of months in Cashel, we had CandC in Borrisoleigh closing and only last week we had Suir Pharma in Clonmel being closed. In my own town of Thurles, in the past 25 years we have had 20 factories close, with only two replacements and not anything like the number of jobs that we have lost being replaced. Our urban centres all through the county are dying a death because of the lack of jobs in our towns. As Deputy Troy mentioned, rates is a significant issue. We seem to be putting obstacles before companies rather than trying to help them to start up businesses.

In the past couple of weeks, I had one of the major employers in Nenagh looking to get in 3-phase electricity for his plant after successfully winning a contract in Canada. However, two State agencies, ESB and Iarnród Éireann, kept putting obstacles in the way of getting it done in an efficient manner. It took numerous calls and interventions to have it completed. Those are the kind of difficulties that should not arise. Where we have a company that is going well, everything should be done to make it easy and efficient for it to progress and create more employment.

A savage cut was made to Leader funding under the previous Administration. County Tipperary will receive only 34% of the Leader funding previously available to it, which is a hammer blow. In light of the fact that 66% of the population of the county is rural based, it is hugely dependent on such funding.

The way rates are applied to businesses must be re-examined. Many businesses have closed, with the application of rates having been the straw that broke the camel's back. We need to re-examine the position with a view to ensuring rates are a modern tax based on the profitability of a premises, not its size.

The way IDA Ireland is structured in my county needs to be addressed. It does not help that the county is split into two regions. Another issue is the lack of support for the self-employed and for small business enterprises. All self-employed persons pay PRSI but get virtually no benefits for doing so. That matter must be examined and changes will need to be made.

The lack of profitability in the agrifood sector, particularly for primary producers, will put further pressure on rural economies in 2016 and on businesses in the sector. We must put incentives in place and make sure that, in particular, agricultural merchants who deal with primary producers will be able to withstand the huge pressure there will be in terms of cash flow. That issue must be given serious consideration to ensure there will not be casualties. A lack of cash flow is a temporary hiccup in the agrifood sector. I hope the Government will give this matter serious consideration.

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