Support for small retailers
Deputy Guirke asks what plan exists for small retailers who cannot compete online with big chains and are burdened by rates. The Taoiseach says rates were waived for the year and other supports were provided, though Level 5 remains a serious challenge for businesses.
What plan has been put in place for small-time retailers who may be opening sometime soon? While we promote, tell and encourage people to shop online, most of these small-time retailers in my constituency of Meath West do not trade online. Even if they did trade online, they could not compete with the corporations and big companies. I spoke this morning to a small retailer in Oldcastle who pays €2,500 each year to Meath County Council for rates. There are hundreds of such businesses in counties Meath and Westmeath. Those small businesses pay the main rates base in those counties. If we do not look after them, the rates base in Meath and Westmeath, and similar counties, will be destroyed in the long term when the Covid-19 pandemic is over. We must, therefore, get a plan in place and look after these small retailers. This is their second busiest month of the year and December is not too far away.
Comment on this
As the Deputy will be aware, the Government waived commercial rates on such businesses for all of this year, and we have also introduced an unprecedented set of measures to support businesses during this global pandemic. These are difficult circumstances indeed for such businesses, particularly when we are in level 5. I refer to the high level of restrictions in place as a result of moving to that level, which is designed to get the virus incidence and case numbers way down so we can reopen the economy and society more fully. It is something on which we continue to focus.
That is why, for example, we wanted to be scrupulously fair to small retailers by ensuring that multiples could not continue to trade in what have been termed non-essential items while smaller business were closed. People started picking holes in that approach as well, however, in respect of undermining that strategy. I have noticed, across the board, that people want us to relax every single measure in isolation. If we do all that, collectively we will end up with no level 5, level 4 or even level 3 for that matter. It is a challenging position for people to be in, unfortunately, but we are doing everything we can to help small businesses.
