Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I refer to everybody who is struggling and has been crippled by the huge increases in costs for small businesses, including staff costs, energy costs and professional costs. The Minister mentioned the rates. There are also higher maintenance costs and higher entertainment costs for small, non-chain pubs. There needs to be a look at the rates. The Minister is correct that €5,000 would be welcomed by any small business that is struggling. Yet, for many of those businesses, this will not ensure they will be open this time next year. One of the issues in Dublin, for instance, is that a huge portion of the property tax goes outside the city. That needs to be looked at. This means that Dubliners and Dublin businesses are not benefiting from the rates they pay. That needs to be looked at to ensure that rates are paid, or at least that they come down to address some of the problems. That is one of the big bugbears of small companies. The Minister needs to look beyond this one-off grant.

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