John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I compliment him and the Minister for Social Protection on many of the initiatives they have introduced over recent years, which are working well. A great deal of good work has been done to create jobs and there has not been enough appreciation of what has been happening considering the position we were in a number of years ago. The unemployment rate is down to 10.7% and 144,000 people have left the live register over the past 12 months. Another 150 new jobs were announced earlier.

The youth development initiative will deliver an additional 1,500 places for disadvantaged young people aged between 18 and 24. The JobsPlus scheme, which I first suggested three years ago to my party, has been modified to deal with those aged under 25 in order that they do not have to wait 12 months on the live register. If they are on the live register for four months, they can qualify for the scheme. There has been progress on the Youth Guarantee implementation plan. Approximately 16,500 of the 28,000 places had been taken up by the end of October. Pathways to Work is working well while 60% of those who participate in the JobBridge scheme secure full-time work subsequently. During the week beginning 17 November, 1,755 new jobs were announced involving 16 companies in six counties. The following week, 1,800 new jobs were announced by five companies in counties Dublin, Laois and Galway The unemployment rate has decreased for the 28th month in a row.

Major new supports for job creation were delivered in quarter 3 under the Action Plan for Jobs and the agrifood industry was on show during a trade mission to China. Many good initiatives are taking place. A new Youth Guarantee initiative was announced to further help those aged under 25 to secure employment.

Senator White raised the issue of the difficulty of acquiring credit from the banks. However, 56% of the appeals to the Credit Review Office have been upheld in favour of the borrower. Eight out of ten SMEs have reported higher sales over the past six months, according to the SME credit demand survey.

I have a number of suggestions for the Minister, one of which relates to commercial rates. Many businesses, including hotels, closed during the crash and if they are to re-open, they will need a break on rates in a phased basis in order they can re-establish themselves over a period of, say, three years. A pilot valuation project is under way, which assesses small pubs in certain counties. They are being assessed on the basis of turnover and profit and not square footage. For example, if one walks down Shop Street in Galway, every pub is full. There are people falling out the door onto the street. Those pubs pay the same rates as a pub two miles outside the city in which there are two customers at night, and this is wrong.

Where such pilot schemes have been put in place, they have proven to be successful. The businesses which are making the most money are paying higher rates, while smaller businesses are not. The way to deal with this matter is to take it away from the Valuation Office and transfer responsibility for it to the Revenue, which has all the relevant figures available to it - including those relating to turnover and profit - in order to set commercial rates.

On the previous occasion on which the Minister came before the House I raised the issue of a Saudi Arabian businessman who wanted to come here to do business with a company in Galway. The individual in question encountered major difficulties over a six-month period while attempting to do so. His requests for permission to do business here were continually refused for various reasons. The Minister pursued the matter on my behalf and the relevant Department wrote to him providing incorrect information. I was obliged to contact it and highlight the fact that it had provided information that was incorrect. Eventually, the man to whom I refer was granted permission to do business with the company in Galway. Thankfully, even though frustrated and in circumstances where most people would have done so, he did not give up on his quest. He has subsequently invested millions of euro in the company in question and has given those involved with it hope for the future. I cannot say much more about the issue but I hope that matters will improve for the company.

The Saudi Arabian businessman to whom I refer spent four or five months trying to obtain a visa to enter the country. Ultimately, he was successful in doing so. Yesterday, I was contacted by an Irish national in respect of three Libyan businessmen who want to come to Ireland in order to buy cattle for live export. One of these individuals has been in Ankara for the past 19 days waiting to obtain a visa. Surely there is a need to deal with this matter on the basis of better interdepartmental co-operation. Another Department is delaying the Minister's Department in the context of attracting both jobs and investment to Ireland. Perhaps he will outline his views on the matter.

Previous speakers referred to balanced regional development. For the past three years I have been informing people in Roscommon that things are great in Dublin and that there is no sign of a recession here. From a business perspective, pubs and hotels are full and shops are busy. Everything is going well in Dublin. The position elsewhere is not the same. When I return home each week, I see the opposite of what I see in Dublin. There is nothing happening outside the capital. We are doing nothing to help small businesses or attract industries to rural areas. Representatives from IDA Ireland have visited Roscommon on three or four occasions in the past five years but nothing has resulted from those visits. What can the Minister's Department and IDA Ireland do to encourage businesses to create jobs in the west?