Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I spent the last few weeks going around my constituency of Meath West talking to small businesses in towns and villages. The issue that kept coming up was energy costs. I was talking to butcher shops and convenience stores. These were essential workers during the pandemic. They have mostly between five and seven employees and their energy costs have gone up three to four times. The supports in place are not enough for these businesses and many will go under this winter if they do not get additional funding from Government. Will the Tánaiste see what can be done for these businesses? It will cost the State much more if these people end up on social welfare.

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