Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Why does the Government get it wrong all the time? I have a business background and have been self-employed nearly all my life. I have education of life and of business because I am in business. Why does the Cabinet get it wrong all the time? The Government likes percentage models. How many in the Cabinet are businesspeople or come from the farming or community sector where they have been involved in their communities? When one breaks it down and looks at the budget, it explains why the Government gets it wrong all the time, even with a business factor, because it does not have the proper people in Cabinet to reflect the whole country. Whether an international business or down to SMEs, all the Government seems to do is look at the figures and if something does not make up the proper figures, it does not take into account what it means in a community. It is not all about profit; it is about giving amenities in a community.

At the protests yesterday, we saw business owners from around Ireland from the restaurant, pub, hairdressing, coffee shop and shop sectors. They told us the Government is crippling them. They will take the two wage increases, which I welcomed. That is one thing but where do they go? They have a margin to put on so they have to increase their cost. They have insurance costs and increased rate, produce and energy costs and the Government then puts back up the VAT by 4.5%. Any businessperson will tell you that is about a 10% to 12% increase in money you have to get to make your business viable. An international business can sustain that because it has millions and billions of turnover. When you go into a local business, if it had a €1 million turnover, and take that into account, it cripples them. The same wage increase which the Government gave has been taken back because when that person goes to the shop, the people had to put up prices across all sectors and give it back but the PRSI contribution comes back to the Government.

If a person wants to buy or build their first house, 36% of their mortgage is tax and 13.5% of the cost of buying a new home is tax. They are hammered if they work to get a mortgage with tax and hammered with tax if they go out and support the local community in the food or coffee industry. If they want to build their own home, they are hammered with tax. The Government gets it wrong because it has no proper businesspeople in Cabinet who understand real business in Ireland. That means protecting jobs, communities and people. This is the Government's failure. The Cabinet needs to change; it does not reflect this country or small business. It needs to change.

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