Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I found the justification by Senator Keane for breaking the rules by saying that two Fianna Fáil members had already spoken to be extraordinary. I hope this does not happen again.

Towns themselves need to rise to the challenge. Kells in County Meath has car parking charges which work to the disadvantage of the town and are a disincentive to doing business in the town. I commend the efforts of my Fianna Fáil colleagues, who are in the minority on Kells Town Council, for their efforts to alleviate the situation. Some schemes have been successful, such as the introduction of free parking at Christmas. However, Kells Town Council annual estimates show the massive cost associated with putting paid parking in place. It costs the council significant money to run paid parking. In my view, towns such as Kells should take a chance - especially now that town councils are being abolished - and abolish paid parking to see if there would be a financial return in increased commercial rates as a result of increased commercial activity. There is no doubt that paid parking is a disincentive to visit the town. Drivers need to have the change to put into a machine and hope they do not overstay the time period. While the staff of Kells Town Council are very helpful and are not in the league of what is reported in Dunleer, paid parking is a disincentive. Ashbourne was awarded a retail excellence award for being the fourth best town in Ireland. Ashbourne has a major advantage over other towns because it has free parking. It is quite handy to come to Ashbourne with no worries about leaving the car to do one's shopping. This brings money into the town. I encourage the ruling majority in Kells Town Council to follow some of the advice of my Fianna Fáil colleagues and examine the issue of paid parking. I ask them to go further and to consider the possibility of abolishing it completely, because such a decision would be of great benefit to the town of Kells. It would facilitate people in coming to the town and allow them to take their time in making purchases.

Among the reasons for the increase in out-of-town shopping is that shoppers like out-of-town shopping centres and they like the convenience of big supermarkets. The lack of public transport is another reason for driving by car to out-of-town shopping centres. It is easier to go to an-out-of-town shopping centre. I do not decry out-of-town shopping centres but I say to the towns that they need to respond and paid parking has to be one of the key issues in this regard. I hope that paid parking will not be introduced in those towns in County Meath that do not already have it.

During the debate on the Seanad referendum it was widely claimed that no Bills had been stopped by the Seanad since 1964. However, the commercial rates Bill was stopped last year and I do not know its current status. The Minister put forward a flawed commercial rates Bill. The Fianna Fáil Party pointed out the flaws and it was the only party to oppose the Bill. We have heard nothing further about this Bill in nearly a year. If that Bill were presented to the House on Committee Stage with amendments to provide for a fair appeals system and an inability-to-pay clause, this could be of great assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises. However, there is inertia in the Department with regard to this Bill and nothing has happened in 300 days. The Minister has not presented that Bill to the House. We pointed out the flaws, which are relatively easy to deal with, but they need to be dealt with as a matter of urgency because small businesses cannot hang around. A few months ago the Taoiseach blamed the Seanad for the delay, which was pretty cheeky, in my view. That Bill is stuck in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It needs to be radically amended on Committee Stage if we are to support it in order to help business. Commercial rates, paid parking and rents are the key issues because these are the cost factors that are closing down businesses all around the country. It would be far easier to trade and to shop if these costs were not so burdensome.

I commend Senator Landy on his motion. He is from Carrick-on-Suir and he knows all about the problems of small towns in rural Ireland. I will not oppose his motion. I encourage all town councils to abolish the one-hour paid parking system because it is a risk worth taking. They will see the benefits with more people coming into town centres. It is a risk worth taking, in particular, in the commuter belt around Dublin, in the counties of Meath, Kildare and Cavan. It is quite easy to get to retail parks on motorways. There is no point in giving out about retail parks; nor do I agree with taxing them or their parking spaces. The towns must respond and one of the ways in which they can respond is to remove paid parking, while the Government could remove the upward-only rent reviews and deal with commercial rates.