John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I second the motion and commend Senator Landy on taking the initiative to table it at an opportune time, the week before the budget. I know these are not necessarily financial matters being directly dealt with by the Minister, but there are budgetary implications in some regards. I am also grateful that the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, has made herself available to the Seanad this week as she has always been one of the more positive, progressive and receptive Ministers of State.

I have always found that any time we raise issues with her, we get feedback. She goes back to her Department with our suggestions and, therefore, they are not falling on deaf ears, which is important because we need the influence and support of Ministers to carry on our work in an effective fashion.

Senator Landy has done a great deal of work and research preparing for this debate. The motion has not been tabled on a whim. He has put forward a structured set of suggestions and proposals. I second his worthy proposal to call on the Minister to initiate a task force following next week's budget that would sit in a short, sharp shock type of way to bring forward proposals that would have an immediate effect as we approach the winter, Christmas and spring to help to rejuvenate and support main street, Ireland, which is, unfortunately, on its knees.

I would like to be positive and constructive but family businesses and small retailers throughout the country are at the end of their tether and hanging on by their fingernails. They are often working without a wage out of pride and dignity and respect for a business that was perhaps passed on from one generation to the next. While the work the Government is doing on job creation is good and reaping dividends, particularly among multinationals through foreign direct investment, it cannot turn its back on town centres and the abject dereliction that is sweeping through main streets everywhere in the State. I refer to towns such as Mountmellick, Portlaoise, Portarlington, Abbeyleix, Durrow, Mountrath and Rathdowney in my community. I am certain there is a profound commitment to business and voluntary endeavour outside of business among people there.

Businesses in town centres are coming together and pooling their resources and ideas to put their best foot forward. Mountmellick Business Association was reorganised and revitalised only in the past fortnight under the chairmanship of a young man in his 20s, Mr. Tom Horan, and Ms Edel Watchorne. A colleague of mine, Lisa Delaney, is also actively involved. An organisation, Downtown Portlaoise, has launched an initiative to promote the town centre in Portlaoise. However, these organisations are up against multinationals and policies that have been in place over the past 20 and 30 years that have been biased in favour of multiples and multinationals. I recall when working as a journalist in Portlaoise in the 1980s the introduction of urban renewal schemes that designated fields on the outskirts of the town to the neglect of the town centre. Four of my uncles worked in Kelly's Foundry, whose emblem is on hay sheds the length and breadth of Ireland. When the foundry closed, it lay derelict in the middle of town. The then Government designated a field on the edge of town for development, which tore the entire heart out of the town. The town centre continues to struggle because it is at a severe disadvantage. The supermarket multiples received tax incentives, did not have to pay rates and were able to provide parking facilities that small businesses on the main street could not cope with.

It is up to us and the Government to rectify that imbalance. The Government will not generate rates from derelict sites or from businesses once the shutters are pulled down. We must stop the decline now. The Government parties have been engaged in a fire fighting exercise to try to put the country back on its feet and I commend them for that. Every Minister has worked hard in this regard but we must make sure that we do not lose more small family businesses. The Gathering was a huge success and tourism remains at the heart of Government policy on economic growth.

One will not get too many tourists into the country to visit Tesco, Lidl and Aldi. People do not come to see supermarkets. I welcome consumer choice and competition but not at the expense of small family businesses, boutiques, artisan butchers and bakers among others. There is an opportunity for us to help organisations that are on the ground that are ready and willing to take up the opportunity. If we needed any incentive to do so, the 9% VAT regime is an example in itself of how when Government came forward with an incentive, businesses matched it and created real jobs that took people off the dole. The shops, retailers and small businesses to which Senator Landy referred would all take on one more staff member each if we met them even half way in terms of free parking and affordable rates. That would take tens of thousands off social welfare in the morning and it would be cost effective and cost neutral. We call on the Minister to take this message from the Seanad to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to feed into the budgetary process and support the ideas we put forward.