Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. As public representatives, we are embarrassed when we are not in a position to deliver something for people which we believe they deserve. There is very little that embarrasses me as much as having to stand up here without a comprehensive solution to an appalling problem. To be fair to the last Government, it introduced the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 which at least stopped this appalling practice going forward. A commitment was made prior to the last general election that the Government would do something to deal with this retrospectively but unfortunately that was not possible because of the very difficult legal situation which prevailed in Articles 40.3.2° and 43 of the Constitution and the fact they must be viewed together. There were legal issues with dealing with this problem retrospectively.

I commend Senator Quinn on bringing this Bill forward. It is another very worthwhile Bill which he has brought forward in my two and a half years in the House. The Bill brought forward by Senators Quinn and Zappone on Seanad reform is a very interesting one that I commend but we can talk about that another day.

This problem is almost as bad as it was five years ago in the sense that many businesses in the mid-1990s, when they were trying to get some sort of security for the future of their businesses, entered into long-term leases, some of which were for 25 years, 35 years and longer. Landlords were quite happy with this arrangement. Tenants entered into this arrangement to ensure they had some security in terms of building and developing their businesses. We then saw the madness which took place from the late 1990s until four or five years ago. Nothing else is upward only in this country except rent reviews. Property prices tumbled and properties around a person's property, which suffered from upward only rent reviews, became vacant and rental values dropped. Unfortunate people were caught up in this bubble.

The people for whom I feel most sorry are those with small and medium-sized businesses who do not have access to big legal teams, well-resourced accountants and so forth who can identify ways and means of getting people through a crisis and who are in a position to negotiate with banks and to avail of any possible loopholes. I am more concerned about the ordinary 95.5% of businesses which are small and medium sized and are the backbone of business in this country. Big business can avail of the examinership option when they get into trouble where they secure court protection and can enter negotiation with landlords and other creditors and come up with a deal which sees a variation in what they are paying in rent. Unfortunately, that is not available to people with small and medium-sized businesses because they do not have the resources to procure the legal and accounting expertise necessary as it is an expensive process.

I always believe there are solutions to every problem. There is more than one way to skin a cat. If there is a constitutional or legal impediment to following through on Senator Quinn's, then let us look at other options. The examinership option is certainly one at which we can look. The Companies Bill 2012, which will go through Committee Stage later this year, has an option called examinership light that would open up the prospect of examinership to small and medium sized businesses which would be a vehicle to deal with these astronomical upward only rents and where they would secure court protection and would be in a position to alter and, hopefully, force down the rents they are paying along with dealing with other creditors.

We must deal with this because if we do not, jobs will continue to be lost. I have absolutely no doubt jobs have already been lost because this has not been comprehensively dealt with. I understand Governments must take cognisance of legal advice, which is appropriate as they would be negligent if they did not do so, but we must be creative and think outside the box and come up with mechanisms to facilitate the retention of jobs and ways and means to secure small and medium-sized business.

This Government and previous Governments have supported and saved the banks. Big business can save itself most of time.

Some very high-profile international chains that have got into difficulty in this country have been able to go through the examinership process and, thankfully, retain jobs and get their rents renegotiated downwards. That facility must be available to small and medium-sized businesses. It needs to be available to the shop in the main street in Cashel that is caught in a 35-year lease on an upward-only rent basis and a shop in Donnybrook that might be run by an entrepreneur who set up in the late 1980s or early 1990s and finds themselves in this awful situation. As an Oireachtas and Government, we need to think outside the box, be creative, come up with solutions and not be afraid of pushing the boat out. If this Bill is not legally sound or impossible to implement, let us come up with other solutions. I firmly believe that where there is a will, there is a way.

I have already identified one possible solution to this problem. The good offices of the Minister could encourage the Government to fast-track the Companies Consolidation and Reform Bill 2012, push it through Committee Stage and look for this examiner light option to include people who find themselves in this type of scenario. We have a responsibility to people who find themselves in this position with regard to the hope they were given prior to the last general election and the early part of the tenure of this Government. We have a responsibility to support them and to ensure the State co-operates with and facilitates them.

I look forward to the Minister of State's response. I understand the constraints he faces. I commend Senator Quinn for putting the Bill before us and for facilitating this very important debate, as he has done many times before. I look forward to, hopefully, seeing a comprehensive response that will end this awful predicament in which many people renting properties and operating small businesses find themselves.