Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is estimated that four out of ten shoppers - that is about 40% - plan to complete their Christmas shopping for gifts of non-food items on Black Friday at the end of this week. I was very taken by the campaign launched to encourage everybody to turn Black Friday into "Buy Green Friday". The campaign highlights the massive importance of people supporting local businesses and service providers, either online or by going in person to purchase local goods. Every euro we spend locally is worth five to the local economy. It is vital to remember that. I came across a statistic recently which shows that every year Irish consumers spend €5 billion online that goes abroad. That is money lost to our local economy. Ultimately, the local businesses and local shopkeepers are the ones whose doors we knock on when local sports clubs, local schools or whatever are holding fundraisers, a table quizzes or what have you. I plead with people and encourage everybody to shop local where possible. By shopping local, we are supporting local businesses and local jobs and, by extension, our entire community. I would like the Government to again initiate a campaign to encourage all of us to think before we press that button and try to shop green where we possibly can.