Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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116. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his attention has been drawn to the annual fees mandated by the Irish Tax Institute that can in some cases cause severe financial hardship for smaller and solo CTA operators; if, in view of the Government's objective to support small and medium enterprises, he will raise this matter with the Minister for Finance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3002/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Addressing the cost of doing business is an area that Government is working to improve across the economy, in particular through the actions and initiatives in the Action Plan for Jobs. The membership fees of independent bodies do not fall within my area of responsibility. The ambition of Government generally is to get back to a top five competitiveness ranking. In this context, the Action Plan for Jobs as a multi-annual strategy initiated in 2012 sets out a range of actions, including in relation to costs, to ensure a cross-government approach to optimising the environment for enterprise, such that a net additional 100,000 jobs will be created by 2016.

I am pleased to report that good progress is being made on the implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014 and my Department is currently completing the preparation of the 2015 Action Plan.