Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There are many facets to the difficulties that small enterprise in towns and villages face, including parking charges, planning issues and the impact of recession in terms of cuts to people's income and so on. A significant factor in this regard is the impact of large multinational retail chains. These chains are draining people away from the small retail businesses in towns and villages.

I am proposing - as I did by way of motion to Dún Laoghaire County Council, which was passed unanimously - that, as is done in many other European countries, we introduce a progressive rates system such that the small butcher, baker and candlestick maker pays a lower rate than the multinational chains, thereby giving small business a break. That is not a radical left proposal: it is just a practical proposal that should be taken up nationally. To me, it is crazy that a bank-----

See this speech in context