Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A business owner told me today: "Without a business like mine, there would be no Atlantic Way." This is a business owner who has felt the impact of the lack of Government support or interest across the west and that is what I hear back from businesses across the west. When we talk about SMEs, as we all know in this Chamber, we are talking about so much more than one business. We are talking about so much more than several businesses. We are talking about the whole community impact a business has. For a community in rural Ireland and in the west these businesses are not just businesses. They are vital community hubs where people gather. They might gather after a funeral or during a difficult time. When one of those businesses, be it a pub or different type of business, closes it has a serious community impact. It also has a serious impact in terms of jobs, and people's ability to be able to stay and work in the place they come from and where they may want to raise their children. In a place like the Gaeltacht in Connemara it has a serious impact on the language as well.

Over the past decade, hundreds of pubs have closed. It is very clear from pub owners who have spoken to me over the past number of days that they feel that if the Government does not act now. there will be even more closures, especially in rural areas. Pubs can seriously be the heart of any community. The owners have told me clearly that there is very little profit in pints at the moment and that despite appearances, many publicans feel they are barely breaking even and do not know how they will continue.

We also have a situation where there are other types of business in rural Ireland, and these are businesses that really provide services that the State does not provide. I think about the likes of the podiatry and chiropody types of businesses whose owners have contacted me in the past. They provide services in rural areas that are far more difficult for older people to travel to larger urban areas to access. They create and deliver services the Government is simply not providing.

Business owners are also saying that they feel very much that this budget gives them very little if any support but that this has been on a continuous basis from the Government. An awful lot of businesses in the west in particular found it very difficult during Covid. Obviously, everybody did, but I am referring to supports. Some of the supports just were not tailored for the types they needed in the west. A number of business owners have also told me about the admin difficulties they experienced. They say that the larger companies may have had somebody who could do admin, but small companies, which we really need because they are keeping their jobs but also have the community aspect, were not getting that support.

Níl ach 50 soicind agam, ach dúirt gnólacht in iarthar na Gaillimhe liom, "Gan gnólachtaí cosúil le mo cheann féin, ní bheadh Slí an Atlantaigh Fhiáin ann." Teastaíonn cabhair ón Rialtas; tá sé sin ráite go soléir. Ní hamháin go bhfuil gnólachtaí i gceist anseo ach, ar ndóigh, tá a fhios againn gur jabanna atá i gceist, go gciallaíonn sé gur féidir le daoine fanacht sa cheantar, i gConamara, más rud é go bhfuil fostaíocht ann, ionas gur féidir leo fanacht ann, a dteaghlaigh a thógáil, agus iad a thógáil trí mheán na Gaeilge, ar ndóigh, chomh maith. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go n-éisteodh an Rialtas leis na gnólachtaí seo ach go gcabhródh sé leo ionas nach ndúnfaidh siad.

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