Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I fully understand the pressures businesses are under throughout the economy at this time, not least those businesses in retail, wholesale or hospitality, which are key. We are supporting them, with €250 million through ICOB and a 9% VAT rate for electricity and gas out to October. There is the grant in respect of energy efficiency that I spoke about, at €15 million. VAT thresholds have been increased for goods and services. There is also tax warehousing at 0%. We are encouraging people to enter into a phased payment agreement by 1 May and to work with the Revenue Commissioners, because we are not out to close any business. We want to work with businesses and keep them viable.

Inflation has fallen significantly and is now 4.1%, whereas it was double that in November 2022, again demonstrating that policies are working. If we are compared with other jurisdictions, failure rates for businesses are about 1.9 times higher in the UK. In our jurisdiction, that has stabilised, with a failure rate of 27 per 10,000 businesses. It was much higher pre-pandemic and, indeed, as we know, at a very difficult time in 2008, 2009 and 2010. I am demonstrating the work we are doing and will continue to do to listen to businesses, to work with them and to ensure they will stay viable.

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