Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a couple of issues. The first involves a word of warning to businesses. Chambers of commerce are promoting companies seeking contracts with businesses in respect of health and safety coverage. However, when you read the small print, you see that there is no cooling-off period to allow people to pull out of those contracts. I just offer a word of warning people and advise them to look at these contracts. Something needs to be inserted into consumer legislation to ensure this is not allowed because a significant number of businesses have been left facing significant costs after signing up for long contracts and not getting what it says on the tin.

My second point relates to petrol forecourts throughout the country. People might not be aware of this but Revenue has taken over the licensing of petrol stations. It has written to every station in the country regarding dangerous substances licences. Hundreds of stations around the country are going to close because they are not in a position to comply with this new provision. We will see the local stations in many communities closing. We are looking at increases in energy prices and are encouraging people to stay off the road but we will now see closures and many communities will be left without a local forecourt, green diesel will not be available for the farming community and kerosene will not be available for people's heating systems in the winter. We will actually force people to travel further on the roads.

It will also result in significant losses for small businesses throughout the country. The owners have an asset that will become redundant. They will lose footfall to their businesses and will face significant costs to rehabilitate their tanks. I seek for this provision to be delayed for one year in order to allow these businesses to trade. Some sort of compensation package needs to be provided for those businesses that have to close or to incur significant costs to comply with this provision. This matter has not really been in the public domain and the reason I am putting it out there is because I am one of those business owners. We face a significant loss of earnings and the loss of an asset that is worth tens of thousands to us. We also have to go to the expense of dealing with our underground tanks but will get no compensation for it. As I have said, a significant number of businesses around the country are going to close and communities will be left without access to fuel, including kerosene for heating and green diesel for rural farming communities.