Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I move recommendation No. 15:

In page 76, subsection (1), between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:

"(e) by inserting the following after subsection (12):

"(13) The provisions of this section shall apply to a sole trader in the same manner as they apply to a company.".".

As the Minister of State is well aware, this was extensively discussed on Committee Stage in the Dáil. The argument was, in effect, that it was easier to regulate companies than sole traders. I accept that is the case. However, if this type of thing is to work we must try to get people involved with it. If the Minister of State cannot accept my recommendation, perhaps he might go back to what we talked about earlier and make it easier for people to register themselves as companies. It is a bloody awkward process to try to register oneself as a company at present. There is a certain amount of cost and time involved. That may be all right in the case of a reasonably big project, or if it is in the interests of people with the wherewithal and knowledge to do this.

At the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis in Killarney at the weekend we were talking about how to get the knowledge economy working and how to get innovation going to make things work. One of the examples I gave was the case of my brother. My brother has an engineering qualification and set up a wireless broadband company. He needed to understand not just the software required to make the initiative work but also the hardware which is the infrastructure of the company, namely, the masts used to transmit signals. On top of this he needed to have the business wherewithal to make the company work. He needed a broad range of specialist knowledge, in other words, to make the company work.

This section in the legislation is aimed at a much smaller level than that. If the Government is serious about what it is talking about it must make it easier for people. I run a business and know that some of the aspects of this Finance Bill that we are discussing make it awkward to do this successfully. A great deal of knowledge is required as regards how to make a business work.

Being a sole trader is much easier than running a company, but if the Minister of State does not accept this recommendation, perhaps he could use his new office to put together information that will make it easier for people to register themselves as companies, showing them how to keep their costs down and making them aware of their responsibilities in an easy to read fashion. I am not talking about a 40-50 page booklet that reads like the Finance Bill. Rather, it should be a booklet that is incredibly easy for people to understand. There should be a strong movement towards an easy-English campaign in every single thing we do in business, but unfortunately that is not how it is.

I shall allow the Minister of State to respond, but if he cannot accept the recommendation, perhaps he might give a clear commitment to putting together an information package through his Department that will make it simpler for people to register themselves as companies and to understand what their responsibilities are in this regard. He might do something about keeping the costs of this to an absolute minimum so people do not need to seek too much legal, financial or other specialist advice until such time as this can be justified.