Business Newsletter

Autumn 2010 Editio on F i n e G a e l’s N ew s le t te r fo r t h e B u s i n e ss C o m m u n i t y i n I re l a n d

Working with 3 years on and only 4% of promised red tape reduction delivered Three years ago, the Government promised to reduce the unnecessary cost of business compliance by €500 million. In today’s fiercely competitive business environment that is €500 million that business can’t afford to part with. To date, past the halfway stage, only €20 million in savings have been achieved.

Cutting out unnecessary red tape must be a key part of a new Government’s agenda to make the Irish business environment competitive again.

Why does the Government make such an important promise and only deliver on 4% of it? They cannot blame the recession for this failure. It is part of what was recently branded “a Chronic Implementation Deficit Disorder,” from which the Government suffers.

The Credit Review Office – What it can do for you If you’re a small business, sole trader or farm owner who has had difficulty getting credit or loan facilities of up to €250,000 or you have had an unfavourable change to your existing credit terms, get in touch with the Credit Review Office for an independent review.

Only 20 businesses have taken up this option in the first six months! The banks are required to comply with the recommendation or to give their reasons for not doing so to the Credit Review Office. The Office has overturned the Banks’ decision in four cases.

Call them on 1850 211 789 or visit online at www. creditreview.ie where you will find good advice on how to approach your bank.

Only 6% of jobs delivered under Government PRSI rebate scheme

Senator

Fidelma Healy Eames

Last December the Government announced a refund of employer’s PRSI to companies that hired people who had been 6 months on the dole. The target was 10,000 new jobs. Only 629 jobs have so far been supported under the scheme.

Fine Gael believes that all businesses need a PRSI relief and not just those expanding.

Our plan proposed to cut all wage bills by on average 3%.

This plan would have helped make 1.7 million jobs more secure and make it cheaper to hire new employees.

Harrmack House, Tuam Road, Galway.

Tel: 091 768466, Tel: 01 6183742(LH) fidelma.healy.eames@oir.ie www.fidelmahealyeames.ie

Fine Gael will rationalise State business inspections

County Enterprise Board funding still down 10% from last year A Fine Gael survey of all the County Enterprise Boards conducted at the end of the summer revealed that 37% had no funding or severely limited support for new starts ups. Under pressure the Government has now committed an extra €3.3 million. However, this is still down 10% on the total funding allocated last year. The number of applications to start a new business is up 20%, but the Government has cut funds by 10%. The future of the economy depends on people having the ingenuity and the courage to set up a new business. The banks won’t touch them and now we see the Government abandoning them too. This makes a nonsense of the Government’s claim that enterprise and jobs are at the heart of their strategy. It now seems that the County Enterprise Boards are set to be integrated into Enterprise Ireland.

As part of its upcoming policy on overhauling the public sector, Fine Gael will propose a One Stop Shop for business inspections by State bodies.

Irish businesses face inspections from a growing range of Government bodies, such as the National Employment Rights Authority, the Health and Safety Authority, the Food Safety Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the local authorities. These inspections are often uncoordinated and repetitious.

Huge efficiency gains for the State, and far lower compliance costs for business can be secured if they are consolidated under one roof.

SME loan guarantee: Banks must be made compete for it Government responsible for most of competitiveness loss It is simply inexplicable why the Government hasn’t produced a Competitiveness Action Plan to tackle the competitiveness agenda. The 2010 Report on Irish competitiveness shows a further decline in Ireland’s position. Of the 36 indicators of competitiveness which are in the red zone, government is responsible for 20 of them! Yet there is no attempt to go to work on these problems with a sense of purpose. The Irish Government is a persistent offender on costs for energy, waste, water and communication. It has refused to implement an effective competition policy. Less than half of the recommendations of the Competition Authority on the legal profession, the health sector, and transport, have been implemented.

High rent, too should be challenged.

The Government still hasn’t woken up to the realisation that NAMA is not providing a “wall of cash” in credit for small business. It did not take up the Fine Gael plan for a National Recovery Bank, and now it is set to reject Fine Gael proposals on a loan guarantee for viable small businesses.

International experience has shown that a properly designed loan guarantee scheme can confine default to 1.5%. The target group would be viable businesses who can’t put up the collateral or the guarantees sought. The banks would retain a significant share of the risk (at least 25%). Banks would be required to bid every quarter for a slice of the cover, and be rewarded with bigger slices where they can show a record of success. This will not be another way for the banks to unload bad loans onto the taxpayer.

Senator

Fidelma Healy Eames Harrmack House, Tuam Road, Galway.

Tel: 091 768466, Tel: 01 6183742(LH) fidelma.healy.eames@oir.ie www.fidelmahealyeames.ie