Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was very annoyed at how elements in the extreme left treated the water issue at the weekend, particularly the terrifying threats to personal safety. Water has united everyone in the country, which is unique. It is an issue for the Government to resolve, and my appeal to those elements is to let the Government do so and do not distract from this job.

I ask the Leader to arrange two important debates . Last night in Galway I met a number of entrepreneurs and employers who told me about genuine and open approaches from the UK Government to Irish SMEs to offer them six months free rates and free rent to establish in the UK. This is a very attractive enticement. Some businesses may use it to open an office to test the market initially, but we know what the UK is at; it is trying to bring the businesses over there. The Government must wake up to this, otherwise it will sleepwalk us into a crisis where we are not just leaking graduates but SMEs. I call for a debate with the Minister, Deputy Bruton, on our attractiveness and tax competitiveness for Irish businesses. This leads me to my second request.

The House needs an urgent debate on tax reform. We must consider reducing taxes across the spectrum from the USC to employer's PRSI and from the outrageous new family tax to the pensions tax. We must start putting money back in people's pockets. The water protests are not just about water charges. Rather, people have had too much austerity. Let us move towards reducing their taxes in an orderly way by using the money the State is accruing.