finegael.org - polcol

Irish businesses are under huge pressure from the unprecedented collapse in the economy.

Fine Gael recognises that Ireland needs a healthy business sector to provide jobs and to trade our way out of this recession. Any Government response to the collapse of the economy, public finances and the banking sector has to involve solutions to all three problems. However, the response so far has only focused on the public finances and the banks without any proper support for the real economy. As a result record numbers of businesses are closing or shrinking that has put hundreds of thousands on the live register in the past two years.

The SME sector at its peak employed more than 800,000 people. This sector contributes billions to the economy in taxes and PRSI, but is being very badly hit in the recession.
After years of rising costs mostly imposed on them by the Government, SMEs must now contest with falling demand for their goods and services. In recent budgets, the Government has made the situation worse. The decision to increase VAT drove consumers North, which has severely impacted on the retail sector.

The recent Fine Gael business forum tour met thousands of business leaders from across the country. Their message was clear: they need a break. Irish businesses don’t need a bail out but just a helping hand during these tough times. But the Government have been completely devoid of proactive plans to help the country’s indigenous business base. New taxes only serve to push more business to the brink. The repeated mantra that the key to restoring competiveness is in restoring the national finances has proven false as unemployment soars as a result of closing businesses.

Fine Gael's Business Plans:

Fine Gael’s plan, A Fresh Start for Jobs in Small Business, is a set of 18 proposals to support small businesses and save jobs. They include measures to support small businesses, tackle business costs such as rent, a freeze on Government charges, and concrete steps the Government can take to protect jobs.
Viable businesses are suffering from a genuine lack of credit. To make matters worse bank chiefs have admitted that multi billion NAMA bail out wont’ help free up credit to business. Fine Gael’s plan for a State wholesale bank remains as necessary as ever to get credit to business so that they can stay open during these tough times and keep people in employment.
To give businesses and their employees a much needed boost Fine Gael has proposed a jobs tax cut. Cutting the both rates of employers PRSI which will result in a reduction of €887 million in employment taxes and costs for 175,000 Irish businesses that employ 1.7 million workers.