Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also welcome his contribution and those of previous speakers. Some interesting points have been made by previous speakers which, in the main, I agree with. The SME sector is responsible for the creation of 250,000 jobs, which is a high percentage of the total employment pool, and it must be nurtured and cared for. Many hurdles are placed before people in small businesses. I know that from personal experience and the experience of many in my town and county, and throughout the country. The self-employed pay higher income tax and pay related social insurance, PRSI, rates than those they employ, while there are no equivalent social protection supports if their business fails. Senator Reilly made that valid point. It is overlooked that there is little protection for the employer and just about adequate protection for the employees. This treatment is crippling small business and low income earning self-employed persons who try to meet their financial responsibilities every week. Their endeavours need to be better rewarded.

My party has consistently supported extending, on a phased and voluntary basis, a full range of social protection supports to self-employed PRSI contributors as part of a commitment to foster an entrepreneurial culture as well as enhancing social solidarity. It is important to note that was part of the arrangement to facilitate the formation of a minority government, which was essential to the continuing stability of the country at a critical time, and my party stepped up to that when many others disappeared. Fianna Fáil extracted policy commitments under the confidence and supply arrangement to support entrepreneurs and the self-employed. We succeeded in getting dental and optical benefits extended to the self-employed while PRSI contributors are eligible to qualify for the invalidity pension scheme. However, the Fine Gael-led Government has failed to meet its commitment under the programme for Government to full equalisation with the PAYE credit by 2018. This needs to be remedied swiftly. Full tax equalisation is a core Fianna Fáil policy which we will continue to campaign on.

The Government also turned a blind eye to successive warnings from the National Competitiveness Council, NCC. Its Cost of Doing Business in Ireland 2017 report is a damning indictment of current competitiveness policy and emphasises Ireland's position as a high-cost location under several cost metrics relating to childcare, property, labour, insurance, transport, energy and business services. Ireland had the fourth highest SME interest rates on bank overdrafts and credit lines in the euro area in 2016 while childcare costs are among the highest in the OECD for couples, and the second highest for persons earning below the average wage. In addition, competitor countries have more attractive tax regimes to entice SME start-ups and scaling up such as the entrepreneur capital gains tax, CGT, regime in the UK.

Many domestic businesses are highly concerned that the UK might leave the EU Single Market and customs union. The Minister must immediately seek approval at EU level for transitional aid measures to safeguard Irish export enterprises and jobs that will be impacted by a hard Brexit. Fianna Fáil has consistently called for an enterprise stabilisation fund and employment support scheme to be made operational and available to the worst affected firms as a policy response to protect from the impact of a hard Brexit. Similar measures were introduced following the 2008 crisis. It is shocking that the Government refused a request by the chief executive of EI before the 2018 budget to create an enterprise stabilisation fund of €40 million. EI received €1.3 million in additional Brexit funding. The level of awareness raising and contingency planning by the Government for a hard Brexit is a matter of concern with only 100 companies applying for EI's €5,000 Be Prepared grant. The SME sector must be supported by every means.

My party remains firmly committed to driving a pro-enterprise agenda to promote our current and future SMEs. The rainy day fund was negotiated into the confidence and supply agreement by Fianna Fáil in the summer economic statement of June 2016. The Government committed to the establishment of such a fund. We have to ensure that when difficult times come again, the first decision of the Government of the day does not have to be to raise taxes or cut spending on vital public services. Despite this, the Taoiseach in his leadership campaign recklessly sought to undermine the rainy day fund and to raid it before it was even created. The fund is a key part of the confidence and supply agreement. As we move towards budget 2019, Fianna Fáil will seek progress on the objectives set out in that agreement to ensure the budget is a progressive one that moves us towards a fairer Ireland.