Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will caveat this by saying there is absolutely no disrespect meant to the Minister of State. I thank her for being here. There are two Ministers of State and one Minister in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I find it a little bit of a stretch that not one of them could find some time to be here. Notwithstanding that, I am very grateful that the Minister of State is here to hear it. I am sure she will bring back what she hears to her colleagues in government. Given the issue under discussion, it is regrettable that neither the Minister nor the two Ministers of State could find some time in their schedules to come to the Chamber for this debate.

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak in support of SMEs and microbusinesses in the State. Sinn Féin supports the principles of this motion. I thank the Deputies for bringing it forward. Sinn Féin forewarned of the crisis now affecting the SME sector and has consistently asked for a range of bespoke measures to help viable but vulnerable businesses. For over a year now, we have been highlighting the crisis facing SMEs, particularly in the hospitality and retail sectors. This crisis is driven by a range of factors including the fallout from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the inflation crises, low margins and increased business costs such as insurance, energy and materials, among others. Analysis from Deloitte Ireland revealed that corporate insolvencies reached the highest level in five years after a 25% rise in 2023. Of the 663 insolvencies last year, hospitality and construction saw a 62% increase, showing that inflation is having a particularly potent impact on these sectors. Over the past number of weeks, Sinn Féin has met stakeholders across the SME, hospitality and broader business community to hear their concerns, solutions and views on the economic outlook for 2024.

The response by the Government to the cost of doing business crisis facing the SME sector has had a limited impact and has become a significant source of frustration for business. Many of the decisions taken by the Government have been a day late and a dollar short. This failure has been the hallmark of the Government over the past two years and was writ large in the utter catastrophe which was the temporary business energy support scheme, which was the flagship Government scheme announced in budget 2023. TBESS funding was earmarked to support business in budget 2023 but the scheme was a failure that only expended 11.5% of its €1.3 billion budget. Sinn Féin, like many in the business community, had hoped the more than €1 billion underspend would be reprofiled but instead it was returned to the Exchequer. The newest flagship business support scheme announced by the Government in budget 2024 is the increased cost of business scheme. It too has come in for significant criticism from the SME sector. The ICOB scheme allocates €257 million for a one-off cash injection for SMEs. It is targeted at small and medium businesses operating directly within a premises commercially rateable by a local authority and encompasses about 140,000 businesses. While €257 million looks like a big figure, when you see how far it has to stretch, you realise it will make very little difference to many businesses. Many have complained there has been no further clarity on the application process nor the date by which they will receive grant aid. Definitive clarity on this scheme is urgently needed.

The Government announced last week that it would bring forward changes to the tax debt warehousing scheme introduced at the height of the pandemic. Since the summer of 2022, Sinn Féin has called for a sensible response to the recovery of warehoused tax debt to ensure all moneys owed under the tax warehousing scheme are recovered, while not putting small and medium enterprises and microbusinesses at risk. This call was reiterated at various stages over the past two years, particularly as the economic climate became more difficult for SMEs, as evidenced by the more than €90 million in warehoused debt that is becoming uncollectable due to liquidation, examinership, cessation of trading and bankruptcy. At the eleventh hour, the Government responded to the calls of Sinn Féin and businesses and announced welcome changes to the warehousing scheme. It is essential that the SME and micro sectors receive adequate support and attention because of their significance in employment levels, value added and social and economic importance. Many SMEs such as pubs, cafés and restaurants have had a significant cultural importance in our local communities. It is important that they get the support they need at this crucial juncture because for many people, their local café or gastropub is the heart of the community. The Minister of State will know this from her own community - it is not just the place where people go for a cup of coffee, it is where they go to congregate. Many people get their first jobs in those businesses. They are the lifeblood. We will not know what we have until they are gone. I encourage the Minister of State to bring back a clear message from this debate to her colleagues in the Government.

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