Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Last Friday in Westport, County Mayo, I presented a paper on local authority financing and its future. A serious deficit has arisen in local authority funding. In turn, local authorities make a disproportionate charge on businesses through development charges. These are making small and medium-sized businesses uncompetitive and, therefore, they find it more difficult to survive. This month, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, published a report entitled, Report of the Small Business Forum.