Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful that Senator Cummins raised this matter. I appreciate his constant support and championing of businesses across the city and county of Waterford.

It is understandable that many of those businesses are concerned about rising costs at the moment. At present, small businesses are facing several challenges due to rising energy costs, inflation and a tight labour market, which the Senator mentioned. I also want to make clear that we in the Government are aware that while many of these costs are out of control, some have been generated due to policies we introduced - good policies we stand by and are important. While increasing the minimum wage, paid sick leave and various types of family leave and introducing a new public bank holiday are good moves and fundamentally the right thing to do, we acknowledge that they come with costs. For any business that closes, it is a difficult decision which I wish to acknowledge, as well as any business struggling at the moment, looking over the accounts on a Sunday night, perhaps, at the kitchen table at home, never mind with their accountant. I want to be clear, however, that we are engaging with small businesses to hear their concerns. Last week, a meeting took place between the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and my office at which the supports the industry needs were discussed. We are open to helping where we can but we need to ensure supports are designed to have the maximum impact.

The Department prepared a report examining the impact of recent costs on businesses with a direct focus on legislative and policy changes initiated by the Government. Many businesses fed into this report, shared their experiences and even their own costings and financial figures to ensure their sector and its needs were represented. This report is being finalised in the coming weeks and will impact and provide a pathway for decisions moving forward. The report is at a high level. We have not gotten into the full detail. It is being discussed with our colleagues in the Department of Social Protection. Having discussed it with the Department economist who compiled it, the vast majority of businesses are able to take on these costs easily. In retail, many of the large multiples are already paying the living wage so moving the minimum wage up does not impact them. There is a direct impact on food-based businesses, which the Senator cited, such as restaurants and cafés, which are perhaps separate from hotels, as well as certain pubs and bars and much smaller retailers - not all of retail but small retail. The common denominator between these sectors is that they are low-margin, high-labour.

The Senator asked about the increased cost of business grant. This is a short-term measure to provide immediate relief to up to 95% of rated businesses. As it stands, we have budgeted €257 million. These refunds will go to about 143,000 small businesses. Under the terms of the scheme, if a business paid less than €30,000 in commercial rates last year, it will receive a cash injection of up to €5,000 in the first quarter of this year. It will be targeted at exactly the businesses the Senator mentioned. It is not to cover every cost. There has been an element of misinformation, which was not deliberate. Some people are wondering if it is a commercial grant rebate and whether there is an application process. The answer is "No". We are working with our colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and hope this will be a direct cash injection using the rates system to calculate the amount paid and as a reverse payments method. Rather than paying money out of your account to the local authority for commercial rates, you will get a cash injection back using the same method. We expect all of these grants to be paid out by the end of this quarter. There is no application process needed. The Senator also mentioned TBESS, which is a wonderful scheme but it did not have a huge pick-up because it was quite complicated. We budgeted double the amount paid out in the TBESS for the increased cost of business grant. It will get to more businesses quickly. It is only a start. There is an awful lot more that can be done. I am open to further suggestions from the Senator and other colleagues.