Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I draw the Leader's attention to the pressure on businesses. As we enter the middle of the Christmas retail season, it is very striking how many shop units in city centre areas are closed. One need only walk two streets from here, towards Grafton Street, to see the number of units that are closed or to let. This indicates that businesses are closing. I suspect many more are just holding on until the Christmas season is over. I call on the Leader to put as much pressure as possible on Government or ask it to at least review the VAT rates to assist retailers to get their businesses going again. They are hanging on, as is evident in Waterford, from where I come. I am sure the position is the same in Cork, Limerick and Galway. This is a very important matter. In the middle of the Christmas shopping season retail businesses are under great pressure. We have criticised people who might have gone shopping in the North in the past few weeks but we can do something about it by reviewing the VAT rates which would help retailers.