FF fooling nobody with poor attempt to establish position on small business – Barry

Micheál Martin was Minister for Enterprise during a time when small businesses and the self-employed were side-lined in favour of an unsustainable construction bubble. Fianna Fáil is fooling nobody as they now scramble to come up with a policy to support those they neglected for so long”, says Fine Gael TD for Cork East and member of the Fine Gael Standing Up for Small Business internal working group, Tom Barry.

“This year Fine Gael launched the Standing Up for Small Business campaign where we consulted with business owners and the self-employed to find out what supports they needed. We know that small businesses support one in three jobs in the country, but we recognised that the conditions under which they are working are making growth difficult.

“Fianna Fáil’s record of supporting small business in this country is one of neglect and decimation. After 14 consecutive years in power, none of the policies implemented by them benefited small businesses and the self-employed in any way.

“In the last three years of Fianna Fáil’s term, 300,000 jobs were lost. Micheál Martin as Minister for Enterprise totally failed in his remit to build a strong and sustainable small business sector. Exports added nothing at all to economic growth during what we were led to believe was an economic boom.

“People will not be fooled by the party’s blatant attempt to now establish a position on small businesses and will see it for what it is; a panicked policy scramble.

“I expect that in the upcoming budget we will make careful and responsible decisions that strengthen and reinforce the economic recovery. Among these decisions, I am hoping for some support for small business that will respond to the needs outlined during the small business campaign, and that will support steady, controlled growth of the sector.”