Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, on his appointment and I wish him every success in his future career in Dáil Éireann. I am glad to see him in the Chamber so early in the term of the new Government.

Today is 14 July, Bastille Day, the national holiday in France. On this day in 1789, the Bastille, a French military fortress and prison, was stormed by the people of France and prisoners broken out. It was one of the first actions of the French Revolution. We all know it was a very bloody revolution. Three years after that, however, in 1792, the guillotine was introduced by the authorities.

In parliamentary terms, the word "guillotine" means bringing a debate to an abrupt end, whether or not it has concluded. Here in Dáil Éireann we are back in the land of the parliamentary guillotine for this legislation. We had several years without a parliamentary guillotine, but it is back today as part of ensuring that this Financial Provisions (Covid-19) Bill 2020 will conclude tomorrow evening, one way or the other.

Now I will say by way of mitigation that during the Covid-19 crisis it is essential for all such legislation to be concluded properly. There may be extraneous or exceptional cases where a guillotine is necessary but I also believe it is important that in a normal functioning democracy a guillotine would be used sparingly when it comes to parliamentary debates.

With this legislation my main concern is about microbusinesses. Everyone talks about small, medium and large businesses. The statisticians and the people who run Departments and big businesses talk about small and medium businesses. Their idea of a small business is one with a couple of hundred people and they imagine a large business is one with over 1,000 people. We have many of these in Ireland and we are fond of them. They are important and they contribute significantly in terms of employment and the tax take. Foreign multinational companies pay on average almost twice the average industrial wage. They pay far more tax per individual aside from the corporation tax they pay.

I estimate that up to 700,000 people in Ireland are working in microbusinesses. They are the backbone of the economy. I have in mind the man with the van or the man with the van and a helper. Perhaps there is a company with two vans. The business, whether a small shop or café, may have between two and five staff.

I hope that during the course of this legislation, if it is not possible for it to be put out as part of the legislation, we would be given the figures of the total employment in companies with between one and five employees or maybe between six and ten employees. This touches on small business activities. These are the people we need to get back to work. The big companies are big and strong. They can borrow and many of them have good credit ratings. However, for the small business a figure of €10,000, €20,000 or €30,000 is a phenomenal amount of money. That is what they need to keep ticking over so that they are viable and still in business on 1 January next year.

I am making a plea for microbusinesses to be supported and singled out especially. There is a case almost for a Department for microbusinesses and small businesses because of the fundamental impact they have on the Irish economy not only in urban areas but in rural areas too.

What is this legislation about? This legislation enables Ireland to contribute up to €648 million to two European funds as part of an EU-wide initiative to mitigate the employment crisis and support businesses getting back on their feet. That is good, great and fantastic. Everyone in the House should be supportive of this legislation. It is good that we have the EU element. This is really an EU initiative. That is why I brought in the issue of Bastille Day in my opening remarks. It is a European national holiday for France, which is one of the largest countries in the EU.

I support all the specifics in the legislation but I have two or three observations to make. The first is written in the legislation several times and I want people to understand it. The €648 million that Ireland will contribute will not be subject to any parliamentary scrutiny in respect of that fund being contributed to or any funds we draw down. It is written in the legislation that the funds will be paid out of the Central Fund and not out of voted funding that comes through this House. I want to explain to people what the Central Fund is. The Central Fund is an account under the control of the Minister for Finance. All taxes that are collected every year are lodged into that fund. Maybe some other sundry income goes in there as well. In a given year approximately €60 billion goes into that fund. It accounts for nearly all the taxation. Approximately €51 billion comes through this House by way of voted expenditure and departmental estimates. There is scrutiny and this spending is considered and debated at length. In addition, some €9 billion, which is a phenomenal amount of money, goes through that fund but does not come through this House for debate, public scrutiny or public accountability. I am keen to see more public accountability in respect of that €9 billion in the Central Fund. The biggest element of that €9 billion is approximately €6 billion that goes on paying the interest on the national debt. That has to be paid, but there should be a debate in the House about the borrowing cost, the amount of borrowing and the nature of the borrowing. The other €3 billion goes straight to the EU. It does not come through the floor of the House at any stage. VAT is collected and paid to the EU with no reference to this House.

Now, we have this new mechanism where a further €650 million will be paid out of the Central Fund once the legislation is established. There is no accountability or traceability back to the Houses. The Minister may choose to amend the legislation and make a statement at some stage in future but in terms of the annual working out of this legislation there is no accountability to the House. That is the one point I would like to see dealt with more effectively in future.

I have mentioned in my comments the issue of payments to the EU. I put it to the Minister of State that this is an issue for the Government at large, of which I am a part. If those responsible are listening I would be happy to provide any thoughts on this issue and assess them in that regard.

I have referred to the payments to the EU amounting to €3 billion that we already make. In addition we will hand over €650 million now in receipts from the EU. Regardless of whether they go directly through the Common Agricultural Policy or through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, there is no accountability to the House in terms of the VAT receipts. I would like the Department of Finance to do something it has not done before. I want the Department to set out an annual report of our total financial transactions with the EU, including payments to the EU and receipts from the EU. It is very important that people can see that.

This is another EU initiative. We are supportive of it. We think it is good and I want it to concentrate on microbusinesses in particular to ensure we get over the employment crisis of Covid-19. I will conclude by wishing the new Minister of State well in his job.

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