Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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310. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his attention has been drawn to the negative effect high commercial rates has on job creation in small business. [50446/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The levying and collection of commercial rates is a reserved function of the Local Authorities which come under the policy remit of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan, T.D. The Annual Rate of Valuation (ARV) is decided by the elected members of each Local Authority in their annual budget. The monies raised by Local Authorities through payment of rates funds vital local services for enterprises, including roads, street lighting, maintenance programmes and the provision of advice on a wide range of issues under the remit of local authorities. Conscious of the pressures on businesses at the present time, in 2013, 87 out of the 88 rating authorities have either reduced their ARV or kept it at the same level as 2012.

This Government is committed to making Irish businesses keenly competitive in increasingly challenging global markets. In order to help SMEs to be competitive, we are striving to keep all costs on businesses as low as possible. Government actions to support small and medium sized businesses in the domestic economy have been set out in the Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013, and work will continue in this respect in the context of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014.

Significant progress has been made in a number of areas, including the introduction of new financing models for SMEs, for example, the Credit Guarantee Scheme and the Microenterprise Loan Fund scheme; tackling the issue of late payments through the transposition of the EU Late Payment Directive into Irish legislation; the introduction of the JobsPlus scheme that provides an employment subsidy to employers who recruit a person who has been unemployed for 12 months or more; reform of the County Enterprise Boards through the establishment of new Local Enterprise Offices, which is well advanced within my own Department; reductions in the administrative burden on business. To date, my own Department has achieved a 25% reduction in its administrative burden on business, amounting to a potential annual saving for business of over €207 million.

Budget 2014 also contained a number of additional initiatives to support SMEs. These include an increase in the cash receipts threshold for VAT, which will improve cash-flow for businesses, and a new subsidised Financial Training programme for SMEs.

These are just some of the measures which the Government has taken to support the SME sector. The Action Plan for Jobs 2014, which I am currently preparing for the Government, will seek to build on the progress already made and is set to deliver a further suite of actions to support enterprise. SMEs will continue to be a key focus of this process.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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311. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will target assistance to the local small and medium enterprises sector in relation to job creation. [50448/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government recognises the jobs challenge facing Ireland at this time, most particularly for small and medium sized business. SMEs make up over 99% of businesses in the enterprise economy in Ireland and account for almost 70% of people employed. That is why within the Action Plan for Jobs process Government has ensured that there is a particular focus on supporting small businesses and work will continue with this focus in the context of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014.

The Deputy will be aware that significant progress has been made in a number of areas, including improving access to finance through the credit guarantee scheme and the microenterprise loan fund scheme; tackling the issue of late payments through the transposition of the EU Late Payment Directive into Irish legislation; development of a single licensing application portal; reform of the County Enterprise Boards through the establishment of new local enterprise offices; and improving access to examinership for small companies through the Companies Bill.

The Action Plan 2014 will seek to build on this progress and is set to deliver a further suite of actions to support enterprise. SMEs will continue to be a key focus. In addition to work under the Action Plan for Jobs, further measures to support SMEs were recently announced in Budget 2014, which include: retention of the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector – to support and encourage growth in small businesses in the tourism sector; capital gains tax relief to encourage investment in new business; removal of the employment and investment incentive from the higher earners restriction, to incentivise higher levels of investment in SMEs; increasing the threshold for the credit review office from €500,000 to €3 million; supporting cash-flow in the small business sector by increasing the VAT cash threshold from €1.25 million to €2 million; a package of improvements in the R&D tax credit aimed particularly at small Irish companies.