Rose Conway-Walsh: Businesses Need Real Fuel Relief Now

Minister, I shouldn't need to stand here and tell you that businesses up and down this country are really suffering from the energy crisis that the Tánaiste and your own party leader has acknowledged is the worst the world has ever seen. Yet in the eyes of business owners, the scale of the support from government don't match the scale of the crisis. So I'd like to know what additional new measures the government will put in place to support all businesses facing increased operating costs arising from the ongoing fuel crisis caused by the US-Israeli war in Iran. Minister. Firstly, thank the Deputy for her question. The government understands the pressures the rising fuel and energy costs are placing on small and medium-sized enterprises. These are not abstract figures. These are family businesses. These are local employers and community anchors in every town and villages across our country. That's why government has acted quickly, decisively and in a targeted way. In March and April, we introduced a substantial package of fuel supports in the tune of 750 million euros, indeed to cushion businesses against the current fuel shocks. These include VAT-inclusive reductions of up to 32 cent on diesel, 27 cent on petrol and 7.4 cent on green diesel, alongside a reduction in the NORA levy and the deferral of planned carbon tax increases until budget time. This is immediate real relief at the pumps for businesses who cannot pass these costs on. However, we didn't stop there. We also strengthened sector-specific supports where fuel is non-negotiable input. An increase in the diesel rebate scheme rising to 12 cent per litre, a new road transporters support scheme for haulage and coach operators and 100 million euros for a fuel subsidy support scheme for our farmers, contractors and fishers during peak fuel use months. These are targeted interventions and at the same time we are backing SMEs to reduce dependencies on volatile fuel markets, together with SEAI grants, energy audits, business energy upgrades and also supports around micro generation supports. Firms are being helped to permanently reduce their operating costs. We are also ensuring access to finance through the growth and sustainability load scheme, offering long-term low-cost loads of up to 3 million euros and finally we're also tackling cost pressure structurally and the action plan on competitiveness and productivity and the cost of doing a business advisory form and I'll read the rest into the record. Minister, business owners are begging for supports and many of them joined the recent fuel protests as a last resort just to have their voices heard. This comes in the context of the government spring economic forecasts which predicts a surplus of 9.2 billion for this year up from 5.1 billion predicted on budget day and many of the businesses that we're talking about here have contributed substantially to that figure. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of our economy, sustaining local communities especially in rural areas like our own. Half measures and piecemeal offerings so far have barely scratched the surface and not provided meaningful relief for SMEs. Now I put forward some suggestions recently to you Minister regarding more flexible payment options for grants administered by your department including upfront payments or staged installments rather than reimbursement as one lump sum after works have been carried out but you rejected that proposal. I also suggested increasing the energy efficiency grant from 75% to 100% for eligible costs to help businesses decrease energy costs in the long term. Minister. Again thank you Deputy. I certainly respect the concerns that you've raised but certainly don't accept the suggestion that we're leaving SMEs behind. Indeed Sinn Féin's talk around spending fast and spending wide in regards to budget surpluses is certainly irresponsible. I think we have surpluses on the back of prudent management and careful management of our economy and indeed you know SMEs have been the beneficiaries in regards to the resources that we have at our disposal in recent weeks and indeed these are designed precisely at a moment when our SMEs are exposed to fuel shocks at this magnitude and indeed that's why we have ensured that we've seen reductions immediately at the pumps but also we have had targeted schemes now for transport operators, for agriculture, for fisheries, for contractors, the SMEs that are dotted right across our rural communities, right across the country who need targeted supports at the most critical time of the season when they're very very busy and have huge fuel consumption. So indeed we have put a real package of substance together to deal with the immediacy and the urgency in the here and now. Deputy. You may thank the protesters for anything that has been put in place. Now what I presented to you there Minister were those proposals they would encourage greater uptake of the grants and secure the futures of many SMEs but you've refused to take those on board. Now I want to talk about it in the context of tourism. Tourism is the heartbeat of many Irish communities but especially in rural communities that depend on visitors to sustain local economies and local jobs and as a rural TD I can tell you that public transport as you will know is scarce and tourists rely on private bus operators to bring them to towns along the wild Atlantic way for example. Hospitality providers are worried that spiring fuel costs will make these trips unviable for operators or that they would become so expensive that tourists simply won't come. So higher fares mean fewer visitors and fewer visitors mean fewer jobs. If the routes are cut rural Ireland pays the price. The government should be doing all that they can to ensure that this won't materialise. Minister. Again thanks for your question Deputy and just to reassure all our transport operators and indeed Minister O'Brien along with government have introduced a substantial package of over 40 million euros a month to support our transport services, coach operators, haulage contractors also and indeed as someone who knows the importance of tourism in County Mayo and I really look forward to Friday's launch of the Wild Mayo tourism strategy and indeed that has a firm focus in regards to North Mayo and Ackle Island because these are gems on the wild Atlantic way that we need to continue to promote but also invest in and I know Minister Burke has been working actively with Fulch Ireland to drive our tourism programme to increase our visitor numbers because we know how vital it is to support over five and a half thousand jobs locally in Mayo but also it benefits the local economy to the tune of over 250 million euros and that's why we've introduced the new era for tourism strategy five-year strategy that's backed with real money through a castle programme. Thank you. you