Clune, DeirdreTuesday, 19 May 2009 |
Dáil Eireann Debate
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Priority Questions - Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.
Asked the minister: the action she is taking to protect and support small business; her views on the continued lack of credit available to viable businesses; the effect she estimates the credit shortage will have on sma...
How does the Tánaiste’s answer square with last week’s ISME survey, which found that 58% of companies have been refused credit by banks, an increase from what was found in a previous survey? The surv...
Has the Tánaiste considered providing a State-backed Government-guaranteed loan scheme specifically for SMEs, similar to that which operates successfully in the UK? This would be of benefit. It has ...
Not a specific State-backed guarantee.
Asked the minister: her plans to reduce Government controlled costs imposed on small businesses; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The Minister referred to energy, wages and local authority charges, which are the bugbear of many small and medium enterprises. This country has extremely high energy costs; they are the second highe...
Our party has called for a freeze of local authority charges. I noticed the Taoiseach commented on this issue recently as well. Has the Minister held consultations on this issue with local authoriti...
Perhaps the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government could increase the local government fund.
Other Questions - Business Regulation.
Does that mean the Employment Law Compliance Bill has been dropped?
Other Questions - Research Funding.
I recently asked the Tánaiste a question about the discover science and engineering programme, for which funding has been halved from €5.25 million in 2008 to €2.68 million this year. In her reply, s...
The programme is for second level students as opposed to research and development in third and fourth level.
That does not square with the Government’s ambitions.
| Last Updated: 07/10/2010 14:05:45 |
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