Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and join others in congratulating him on the immense progress that has been made. As he observed, however, there is still an awfully long way to go and a brick-by-brick approach will be necessary.

The Minister for Finance came before the House last evening and I asked him about capital gains tax, CGT. I am an entrepreneur and I often speak to young entrepreneurs. When they ask me for advice, I always inform them that once they start a business, they must know when they will exit it. As we all know, the exit here is CGT at a rate of 33%. I informed the Minister for Finance that I have no problem with this rate of CGT but surely there should be a different rate for someone who is working for the country, who has a great idea, who is going to start a business and who is going to create employment and increase the Government's income tax take as a result.

There is an increasing level of concern among Members of the Oireachtas with regard to rural Ireland. Such concern appears to be growing weekly. This has led me to ponder the position with regard to the tax rates which apply in rural areas. Enterprise Ireland has always provided additional grant aid to companies which locate their operations outside urban areas. I ask the Minister, Deputy Bruton, to give even greater consideration to how foreign direct investment might be further incentivised in order that companies might be encouraged to locate their operations outside these areas.

I warmly welcome the news from the IMD that Ireland is ranked 17th in the world in terms of its competitiveness.

As an exporter of 80% of produce, we find it continuously difficult to be competitive, in my case, with European competitors. The Irish Sea is between us and Europe but competitors are on the mainland. We have no problem being competitive in North America with fellow Europeans but I cannot stress how every single brick of assistance that can be given to make us competitive is welcomed and can be used to gain traction and sales.

We need help in Ireland to increase our skills base with the web but I am only barely able to articulate this because I only know a little bit about it. Nevertheless, we believe in it. I will visit a similar company to mine in London next week but it started three years ago, whereas I started 20 years ago. It only sells on the web and in England. It is turning over £50 million after three years just on the web. I have recently received investment from the Carlyle group, which owns the company in question, and that is why I am lucky enough to be introduced to it. I have learned much already. The Minister should think about Irish companies selling on the web, as I am concerned about our lack of knowledge. If my company has some Google AdWords, for example, it costs €1.50 per €40 sale in Ireland. It would cost €20 for the AdWords in England as an Irish company trying to make the same sale. Our information technology people must be upskilled quickly so we can get on this platform. Whether we like it or not, on-line selling and buying is here to stay. There is also the tax intake to account for. If I am buying a dress, for example, I may be able to find it cheaper in England or France, which would affect tax. Irish companies must be upskilled so that we can get on the stage in Europe and grab the web shopper. That is the way it is going in business.

I was delighted to hear of the €5 million built heritage job scheme and I ask the Government to add a zero to the €5 million. I had an Australian visitor from Woolworths supermarket, which has done substantial business with us in the past year and I hope will do much more. She flew here on Monday and we had meetings Monday evening and yesterday, when we finished at lunchtime. She and a colleague asked what heritage sites could be visited in Kildare. That is not tourism but rather a business visit. We all know the incredible strength in having the heritage that England has, and it also has the National Trust. The Minister knows he can also create wonderful jobs in this respect. Perhaps he can join the dots with the Minister responsible for arts and heritage, as this is a "no-brainer". If we build up our heritage and restore it forever for future generations we can create jobs and skills now, and further jobs will attach to those heritage sites.