Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Naughton's call for a debate on how we can further finance and leverage our successful enterprise centres. She cited the very successful one in Ballybane in Galway. In my own town of Ballinasloe, we have an enterprise centre that has 170 people working in it currently. It has great potential to develop further, provided that additional funding could be made available.

I welcome the publication in the past hour of a very significant document by the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, of which I am happy to be a member. The chair of that committee is Deputy Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy and I want to acknowledge the good work done by the rapporteur to the committee, Deputy John Lyons. It sets out a number of policy options to support business growth, job creation and job retention in towns and village centres. The committee invited and received submissions from many interested bodies and business organisations in the course of the preparation of this significant document.

Among the recommendations are that Government would look to support local authorities to introduce grant relief schemes similar to that being piloted in Limerick to incentivise new businesses to take up vacant properties on high streets and town and village centres. Another recommendation was that local authorities would consider rate reductions for small independent businesses in city and town centres to ensure a retail and hospitality blend is offered to consumers. The committee further recommends that action be taken to relieve businesses of the burden of upward-only rent revision, which is suffocating many struggling businesses at present. There is a recommendation, which was very strongly supported by all members of the committee, that local enterprise offices would work closely with local chambers of commerce and other industry bodies to further develop online training for online sales and the benefits of social media in promoting businesses. There is also the issue of banking charges and the need for dialogue between Government and the pillar banks on the level of charges being levied on small businesses for banking services. There was much discussion at the committee of the need to give consideration to free parking periods for several hours during the day in town and village centres, as a measure that should be considered by local authorities. Finally, the committee recommends that Tourism Ireland and other bodies strongly market towns and cities as shopping destinations in the course of their work. This is a very significant piece of work, so I would like the Seanad to have an opportunity at some future date, perhaps in the coming month, to discuss this publication by the joint committee on jobs and enterprise.