John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I continue from where the previous speaker left the argument. There is a huge case to be made for small businesses. They are under enormous pressure. That is not a whinge; it is a fact. We have failed to understand the challenges that face small cafés, restaurants, retailers, food outlets and clothing outlets.

We do not seem to understand what it takes for them to make a profit in order to survive. Businesses are closing down. They are under threat. While the budget may help, we were good to businesses throughout Covid-19 and thereafter but we are facing a real crisis in enterprise. Microenterprises are the heart and soul of local economies and having a number of them close in any village or town changes the profile of that village or town. It takes away an amenity, a gathering centre or the possibility for local people to shop local.

I agree that the 9% VAT should be reduced. I have fought for that within our own party. The hospitality sector needs to be helped, but it cannot stop there. Despite the many reports that are available, I do not understand why the Government cannot single out microenterprises and directly assist them in a way that makes it possible for them to compete, be it through online sales or with a physical shop in every high street and town. They work hard. They pay their taxes. I would like to see those taxes being spent in a way that offers value for money with the same care and attention that those microenterprises had to employ to get the profit in the first place. I am afraid we are failing there too.

A number of weeks ago the Governor of the Central Bank made it quite clear that he was concerned about the amount of money being spent in the economy. That is his view and a view that politicians take into consideration when making policy decisions. Value for money should be the cornerstone of every action taken in government. Where value for money is not present, the reasons must be rooted out. We have failed in that regard. A simple proposition of extending the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee to examine all money that comes from the taxpayer and is spent by NGOs, agencies or Departments should be part and parcel of legislation. I understand he will not get to audit every cent. However, it is a deterrent, a statement from the Government to say that we care about the taxpayers and the businesses that pay tax and we want to do something about it. That is an area that has never been explored. It has never been reformed. I wonder why that is. I wonder whether any analysis was done on the amount of money that could have been saved over the past number of decades had that system been in place. I wonder why, politically, there is an objection or a stalling of any consideration of that. It is shocking. Any business looks at its incomings and outgoings, it takes risks or makes a loss but at least it tries to get value for money. The Government is not understanding the full potential of a well-supported enterprise sector. That enterprise sector includes farming.

I will turn to an area where millions of euro could be made by the Exchequer, namely, smuggling of coal, cigarettes, alcohol and diesel. Many thousands of containers come into the ports in Ireland, a tiny fraction of which are scanned. Just a tiny fraction of them are X-rayed. In 2024 alone, there have been 27 seizures of cigarettes worth €58 million. That is a loss of €45 million to the State. On every street corner there is a salesman selling alcohol and cigarettes and pointing out where coal can be bought cheaply. All of this evades taxes. All of it is known to the Revenue Commissioners and to the Members of this House. It has all been highlighted previously. Why is it that Revenue turns a blind eye to smuggling? It is destroying local markets and the retail network around the country that has to deal with so much bureaucracy in order to sell cigarettes. I am against cigarettes but they are in the market and we have to look at it. It is down to bad planning and poor support in terms of finance and Revenue that we do not have a blitz and take these dealers out of the markets. We must get on top of what is an out-of-control situation. I would like an answer to that.

This is a small thing. Willy Conroy writes to me every year and asks whether the age exemption limit will be raised, so that a person with a work pension and a State pension will not be pushed into the tax bracket and lose whatever benefits may have been gained from the budget. That has been the case for years. I make the appeal every year. The Finance Bill should make some effort to bring about that change. It affects older people in society, the people who worked, who have pensions and are anxious to protect the value of those pensions and give themselves a decent quality of life. Going back to the bureaucracy of the State, it is too heavy-handed. It is killing business. In regard to Dermot Tobin, the farmer who ended up in court over the four-year rule, I ask the Minister to take his case into consideration and ensure the four-year rule is actually maintained rather than give the Revenue Commissioners free rein to attack taxpayers.

See this speech in context