Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. On budget day, I think the power-up grants were certainly a positive announcement. I know from talking to people in Clare County Council and constituents who have businesses that there is some cause for hope. They also feel that the last few years have loaded an awful lot on employers and people who own businesses. One the things they will say, and we have all met them in our constituency clinics, is that everything has come at them, from auto-enrolment to the minimum wage and the cost of insurance. It is all coming at them at the same time, pretty much.

The VAT 9 campaign was very much en vogue coming up to the budget, and there were many debates. It dominated much of the discourse as we approached budget day. What many people in business will also tell you, particularly in hospitality, is that it was not a silver bullet as such. It would have given them an extra margin that would have helped some people in the survival stakes but it would not have addressed the real issues. What they scream when we meet them is that they just want to know if we are now at the end of all the new measures that have come in. It just seems to be initiative after initiative, which is pretty good if you are a young employee but not much good if you are trying to hold up a business and pay all the money each week, be it the wage bill, the insurance or all of the other additional overhead costs.

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