Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Of course we can and we do that all the time. It has already been said that small businesses are the backbone of rural Ireland, and indeed, all of Ireland. That includes clothes shops. I walked down Grafton Street this evening and saw big trading outlets open. Why are small shops, particularly in the clothes sector, told to close yet the big supermarkets can sell clothes? It is unfair competition. As my daughters tell me, the different seasons are running past and the stock which the shops hold are out of date and not wanted. That is totally unfair to small business. It is a case of big business wins again.

I have been in contact with Strength gym in Clonmel which is a wonderful spacious gym - I am not disrespecting other gyms but one size does not fit all in this area - and they can have one-to-one training. Gyms are in phase five on the roadmap. Is there any possibility that businesses could be examined individually where they have the space - this gym has 3,500 m2, it is massive - and other places that can accommodate distance?

On hairdressers, I thank the Minister for speaking to Willie Walsh in Clonmel, where he is a household name. He is a hairdresser who does tremendous work, along with his family who has operated the business for years. I could do with a visit to him myself, but I must depend on my family to give me a trim. He has made strident efforts to recover and made great effort to establish safe distance and hygiene and so on. They want to be able to trade or else they will go out of business. Will the Minister make available loans? These people never look for loans, or grants or handouts. They put their hands in their pockets and have sleepless nights. They put the investment in. The black market, in this area especially, is thriving. It is shameful. I have said it before and I will say again that people caught operating on the black market should be dealt with seriously. I said before, and some people took offence at me, that some of them are not Irish nationals and they should be deported if they are caught at this. They have been called to by the Gardaí and are blatantly ignoring it. It is not good enough.

I refer to the grants and cash flow for small business, particularly in tourism. Staycations should be promoted this year. All those areas should be supported.

The Lazy Bean in Cahir is a wonderful outlet. It is a meeting place, a hub, in the square, where Karen O'Donovan and her team work so well. It will be very difficult for them to operate with social distance. There will be trial and error. I hear claims. Some of the hard left here have said that all employers must be visited. We must have support these traders at this hard time. Ní neart go cur le céile. Without the vibrant businesses in our towns and villages the economy will not recover. We must give a cash injection to people to be able to spend money, and encourage spending. There is too much of the gloom and locking up.

For hotels and every other business I mentioned, there is the matter of insurance, which Deputy Nolan also mentioned. I would also mention banks. The banks are withdrawing mortgages left, right and centre because people are on the Covid payment. They are blackguarding once again. It is nothing but blackguarding. As for insurance providers, they know that the Minister is a soft touch and that her Government has not tackled insurance fraud, robbery and rip-off for the past ten years and nor did the Governments before that. It is big business. We see all the things they sponsor: why can they not give a rebate and have some bit of respect for their customers who have to pay up and who always want to pay?

Hotel Minella in Clonmel is a fabulous business run by the Allen family for generations. They have been so good and kind in organising anything that was wanted by HSE staff or anyone else, and they are now organising with Louise Morrissey, Paddy Doheny and others to visit nursing homes. With this lovely weather we are having, they can play out in the garden for the residents to look out, and some of them could come outside and engage and I thank them for that. Businesses like this will have to be supported in relation to standing charges, including rates, and the sheer cost of utilities. They have piles of bookings and have stopped taking them.

Deputy Lowry mentioned the farming industry. South Tipperary is the hub of the farming industry. I refer to Pinewood Laboratories, across the border in Ballymacarbry, Clonmel Healthcare, and I have to mention ClonMedica, a pharma business in Clonmel, which has done a huge amount of voluntary work and whose staff put their hands in their pockets every time they are asked to support different events. I refer to David Adlam and his team.

We also need to do something about the driving test. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, came out of his cocooning to come into the Dáil yesterday. I was lucky I was not here because I would have blown a fuse. He said that he wants public transport to operate. He is astonished as to why public transport - the Luas and the buses - is not moving. He also said that people cannot get their driving test. People who want to work on the front line cannot get their driving test yet the NCT centres are not open. Surely they can operate with safe distancing. Is it all about Dublin to the Minister and getting the bus in from wherever he lives in the leafy suburbs of Dublin? They can operate as safely as anybody else. The motorbike testers drive behind the person taking the test. Young people want to get their licence. They have been waiting for years. Many of them have done the theory test and the lessons. They are ready to go. They cannot have an accompanying driver with them now so the gardaí should be lenient in terms of the new law that was passed - I refer to the Clancy amendment - whereby at all times learner drivers have to be accompanied in the car by a person with a full licence. They cannot sit in the car if that is the situation. We need to be real about that. I appeal to the Minister, who understands how the country ticks, to try to influence some of her Dublin-centric colleagues. Rural Ireland exists and will recover if we are allowed to recover and not stifled and hidden.

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