Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That certainly has not been the case. How long will the Minister of State take to enact this Bill now that we are on Second Stage? Will he give a commitment that he will engage in a real and meaningful manner with all Members of the House, listen to our concerns and, particularly on Committee Stage, look at the amendments that certainly our political party will submit in the hope of improving the Bill? Will he then give a commitment that the Bill will be enacted in the not-too-distant future? The Minister of State does not need me to tell him this as he is from an area that does not have the benefit of Dublin city, Cork city or Galway city and is not experiencing the same uptake or increase in commercial sales that Dublin has experienced in recent years, but there are many commercial outlets - I am speaking in particular about the retail sector - that quite simply cannot afford to pay the commercial rates currently levied on them.

This Bill alludes to the fact that if all commercial rates were to be paid annually, it would contribute approximately €1.3 billion to our local authorities, which is approximately one third of the funding for local authorities. Even still, €300 million in commercial rates remained unpaid and uncollected every year. There is a difference between unpaid and uncollected. There are a number of businesses that quite simply cannot afford to pay the exorbitant rates because they do not have the capacity or the turnover to do so. There needs to be greater help and supports for these businesses. Businesses that can afford to pay and have willingly taken the conscious decision not to pay need to be pursued proactively to ensure their rates are collected and to ensure fairness and equity across the board.

Commercial rates are ultimately a tax on business. Does the way it is now levelled make it a fair and equitable tax? One business can operate from a small premises, with high levels of turnover and profit, and pay small commercial rates. Another business that is heavy duty and chunky and needs a large footprint but does not have the same level of turnover and profit pays large commercial rates. There is an inequity there. We should try to alleviate that inequity through the process of this legislation. We need to look at the ability of businesses to pay and, as I said, there are businesses which simply choose not to pay, not because they cannot afford to but because they do not want to. Those businesses should be sought out and it should be ensured that they pay. There are other businesses which can present documentary proof that they simply cannot pay the commercial rates they are being charged, and we need to look at how to bring in an ability for them to pay costs.

One issue I found during my engagement with the retail sector in Mullingar over recent months was that the challenges those businesses used to face were from out of town shopping centres like those in Liffey Valley and Dundrum. The big challenge now comes from the competition they face online. Those online companies do not have the same costs base or overheads and can therefore sell their produce much more competitively at lower prices. Customers now go into shops and try on shoes and clothes, note the brand and size of the clothing, and go home and order the product online.

We have a small, family post office that goes back many generations in Mullingar. The postman told me that the number of parcels delivered this Christmas increased probably tenfold in the 12 months from the previous Christmas. We have to look at how to capture the online trade if we are serious about helping small retailers. How can we ensure that the people working on the high street, providing a premises and employment and trying to pay their commercial rates are at least competing with companies that are paying their taxes? That is not the case currently.

I support the point raised by the Minister of State's party colleague, Deputy Farrell, about childcare providers. Childcare providers are providing a service that the State should provide. They have filled a gap that was allowed develop or evolve over a number of years. I understand from my previous days as my party spokesperson for children that community childcare facilities are exempt from commercial rates whereas private childcare facilities are not. That may differ from county to county, and the fact that there is a difference in how commercial rates apply from county to county further signifies the urgent need to reform how these rates are charged. Many commercial childcare providers provide the same schemes as other childcare providers, such as the free preschool year that has been extended to 24 months, but they have an additional overhead of commercial rates. As Deputy Farrell said, that overhead is not being absorbed by the provider but is being passed on to the parents of the children who use the service and, ultimately, it is driving up the already exorbitant cost of childcare.

I welcome the fact that at long last this Bill is before the House. It does not go far enough in addressing the deficiencies and inequities that exist within the commercial rates structure. It does not go anywhere near addressing the issue of the online trade. I hope, in his wrap-up, the Minister of State will give a clear commitment that he will embrace the amendments which will be forthcoming on Committee Stage and that he will accelerate the passage of this Bill because, as I said, we have been waiting in excess of three years for it.

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