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

I thank the Minister for her reply. Small firms are the backbone of the economy and supporting them helps create and sustain jobs across the regions throughout the country. Earlier this morning, the director of the Small Firms Association said that budget 2020 is disappointing in that it did not recognise the importance of small firms by introducing ambitious measures to support entrepreneurship. Our cap on qualifying gains for capital gains tax, CGT is €1 million, which is out of sync with the UK where entrepreneurial relief is available for gains up to £10 million. We are ranked 23rd in terms of competitiveness according to the World Bank, which is quite low down the scale. Given that the NCC comes under the Minister’s remit, of the 121 recommendations published by the council in its 2018 annual report, will she update the House on the number of those that have been completed? Is there an actionable timeline for the implementation of those recommendations and is that available to Members?

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