Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish Senator Coghlan all the best in his new position as Leas-Chathaoirleach. I congratulate the Minister on her new post. She has always been a great people person and she is the right person for the job.

Rebuilding the economy to support job creation, leading to the delivery of sustainable full employment, has been a key objective of this Government and the previous one, which I had the pleasure of serving under. In 2011, Ireland's employment rate was below the EU average and its unemployment rate was the fifth highest in the EU. Our Action Plan for Jobs was introduced in early 2012 when the unemployment rate was 15.1%. Today, it has fallen to 7.3%, with 155,000 more people employed by the end of the first quarter of 2016, bringing the total number of unemployed to just under two million to date. Stimulating growth in all regions has been a priority to ensure that all areas achieve their economic potential, allowing communities to benefit locally.

We continue to make great strides in this area with incentives such as the Wild Atlantic Way and the recently launched Ireland's Ancient East, which takes in my local area of Trim, south Meath and Meath west. We have seen the recent opening of hotels and businesses along the west coast, increasing employment locally and substantially building our tourism industry. Another incentive was the filming of certain scenes from the hugely popular "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" on the magnificent site of Skellig Michael in County Kerry. These scenes have placed Ireland's rare beauty centre stage all over the world and can only have a positive effect on tourist figures for this year and many more years to come. In 2015, our tourism industry reached a record number of visitors, beating a previous record set in 2007. We are working towards creating an additional 50,000 jobs in this industry by 2025. To date, the lower VAT rate of 9% for the hospitality sector, together with the removal of the travel tax, has been successful in boosting tourism levels, and moving forward is now imperative. It is vital to maintain value for money for visitors to ensure continued growth in this industry.

We have been successful in attracting major multinationals to our country with our highly educated and motivated workforce. Another reason for this is our 12.5% corporation tax rate, which has been controversial with some US politicians, some EU member states and certain members of the Opposition, who seem to oppose everything. It is important that we maintain this rate of corporation tax to attract support and increase jobs. However, we must not become complacent either. It is our SMEs that employ most of the workforce. Together with our up-and-coming entrepreneurs, these companies need to encouraged and given support to start up and continue growth.

It is imperative that certain areas be addressed in order to facilitate and encourage further growth among SMEs and thus enhance employment for others locally. The issues I have pencilled in are bank loans and the Irish Credit Bureau. During the height of the recession, I said that the Irish Credit Bureau was not fit for purpose. It was all right before the crash, but when the crash happened, many businesses fixed their bank loans, and because of this and the fact that they are repaying the loans, they have defaulted in the eyes of the Irish Credit Bureau and will not get loans for the next five years. It is an area at which we must look. These people are paying their way but they face difficulties when they look for more credit facilities to move forward with their businesses and employ new people. I recently visited a furniture factory in Navan. The owner had renegotiated his loans, wanted to move on and could have employed ten people straight away, but he could not do so because he could not get the money. It is a significant issue out there. We must examine the Irish Credit Bureau.

Another issue I raised this morning and about which I will soon table a motion relates to social protection for the self-employed. The motion will call for the implementation of the Mangan report. Another issue concerns commercial rates. There are huge levels of debt when it comes to commercial rates.I am speaking to the owners of businesses that are in debt in sums of €40,000 to €70,000 from commercial rates. The sum of €10,000 or €15,000 for commercial rates might not be a whole lot on 1 January 2016, but if not paid by 31 December 2016 it is a mountain going into the next year and adding up. We have to look at commercial rates, which should be charged on a profit system instead of by square footage.

The other huge issue, which many Members have already raised today, is broadband in rural areas. This is a huge issue. There was a report this morning that 20% of rural businesses do not have broadband. In certain areas, I imagine some of them do not even have mobile phone reception. To kick the can down the road to 2020 is to kick it too far. We should be implementing this and getting it on the road in the next three to four years.