Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Thuigeamar sin agus coinnímid an ceart an leasú a mholadh níos déanaí, más mian linn sin a dhéanamh.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus roimh an díospóireacht seo. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach. Bímid ag caint go rialta faoi chúrsaí gnoithe, faoi dhaoine a chur i mbun oibre arís agus faoi tacú a tabhairt do chomhlachtaí beaga. Go ginearálta, tacaímid le cuid mhaith atá á rá ag Seanadóirí ón Lucht Oibre. Tá cuid mhaith moltaí an-dearfach ins an méid atá siad a rá. Tacaímid leo ach beidh roinnt pointí le déanamh againn.

I welcome the holding of this debate. It is indisputable that the potential of small businesses must be exploited to the full if Ireland is to develop a sustainable and robust economy. We note that there are very good ideas in the Labour Party Senators' motion which we fully support. It would remiss of me, however, not to point out that while motions such as this are positive, if overall Government policy is focused on contracting the economy, we cannot expect small businesses to overcome it. If we are serious about giving small businesses a boost, we must come forward with a genuine plan to provide an economic stimulus. Austerity is not working for young people who are unemployed in record numbers and it is not working for small businesses. Sadly, I see nothing in the motion as it stands that reflects that reality.

The most glaring omission from the motion which is rectified by the Sinn Féin amendment is a call for the Government to reverse the VAT hike. I know the increase is being felt most acutely in Border areas, but small businesses everywhere are feeling the pain of this ill-thought out rise. Only last week the new figures released showed a contraction of the domestic economy. The Government must reverse the VAT hike to give small businesses and the domestic economy a chance. Senator Tony Mulcahy cited statements from Chambers Ireland. That body released another statement today stating, "The effect of the rise in VAT is now clear for all to see, with retail sales declining for the last two months following on from a rise in December 2011". Chambers Ireland urges the Government to think about the consequences the rise in VAT to 23% is having for consumer confidence and the struggling retail sector.

The Labour Party Senators correctly raise the issue of rates, but I am disappointed by the language used. "Addressing high rates" is easily said, but what does it mean? Sinn Féin is proposing a move towards a progressive rates system. Larger, typically non-indigenous, retailers can afford to carry a larger burden of the total amount collected in rates. This would allow some breathing space for smaller, usually indigenous, businesses and reverse the trend of small businesses and local shops closing down, particularly in rural areas.

In their pre-election manifestos the Government parties promised to address the issue of upward-only rent reviews, but this has not happened. This practice must be tackled, as it is stifling business and development. It is preventing people from developing small businesses, but it is not mentioned in the Labour Party motion.

The issue of credit is mentioned, rightly so. What is not mentioned, however, is that the banks are now, to a large degree, in State ownership. The Government should be using that leverage to compel them to begin lending to small businesses again. The Government also has in its power the expedition of the promised partial loan credit guarantee scheme and micro-enterprise credit scheme. These are practical steps which would bring immediate practical benefits to small enterprises.

It has also been brought to my attention that the Central Bank is putting in place a deleveraging scheme with the banks which is putting pressure on them and not allowing them to lend to smaller enterprises. It is stifling the banks ability to do that. The Minister for Finance could examine the way the Central Bank deleveraging scheme is having a detrimental effect in the short term. The other side of the coin is the fact that the banks do not have a problem overpaying their chief executive officers and other high ranking staff in the banks. The €300,000 paid to one executive in the Bank of Ireland would give a good kick-start if divided up between ten small businesses, not to mention the other perks such as health club membership and other benefits that are still being paid for with the support of taxpayers' money being put into the banks. The issue of dealing with late payments is also a crucial one. Small businesses need certainty on when they can expect to get paid. The public sector and, critically, NAMA, must shape up. A strict regime of prompt payment should be brought into being.

The Government should also seek to ensure that being self-employed does not mean being left without a safety net if things go wrong. This should include allowing them to avail of social welfare benefits. The current system doubly punishes the self-employed in difficult times. The system must be changed to allow self-employed people to invest and work with the knowledge that the social welfare net is available to them if the worst comes to the worst.

We have seen an increase in exports but it must be noted that it is mainly driven by the multinationals. If we are to grow the economy we must focus on small and medium enterprises, SMEs, to ensure they are able to export. One of the factors that is stymieing them that we have discussed on a number of occasions is the cost of fuel.