Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will ask the Taoiseach about competitiveness and the great struggle many small local businesses right across the country are experiencing in that regard. I refer particularly to businesses in the hospitality sector that provide many younger people with their first jobs, that sponsor community events and that employ a great many people. These are often family run enterprises. I am talking about cafes, pubs, shops and restaurants, many of which are under phenomenal pressure and having to close their doors. This is about more than the warehousing of taxes, increased wages and the changes to VAT. A perfect storm of a range of different issues is coming together and putting these businesses under pressure. Many of the LEOs do not have direction on the increased cost of business grant that was to be available and have not made it available. Will the Taoiseach give us an outline of how we are going to meet those challenges for those businesses?

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