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THE SMALL FIRMS Association (SFA) has criticised the coalition government’s proposal to reverse the cut in minimum wage imposed by the outgoing government.
The SFA said there were “good and bad issues” contained within the programme for government agreed by Fine Gael and Labour.
It said that the reversal of the minimum wage rate back to €8.65 after it was cut by €1 last December is “not in line with the current economic environment and the challenges which small firms are facing.”
But it welcomed some aspects of the document with Avine McNally, SFA Director, saying:
At last we have a commitment that a partial government backed loan guarantee scheme, will be introduced, this should assist those viable companies who currently are unable to access credit to survive, grow, retain jobs and create employment into the future.
On the proposal for a Strategic Investment Bank the organisation said the “devil will be in the detail”.
The SFA also criticised the programme’s lack of a commitment to reducing local authority rates and reduce employers’ PRSI but welcomed the review of commercial rents and bankruptcy legislation.
It also said that Ireland needed a stronger performance from the entrepreneurial sector.
McNally called for a minister with responsibility for the small business agenda to be appointed to enforce a small and medium enterprises policy.
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Hong Kong’s great days are well gone- I would not even transfer flights there again. Nothing patriotic about his “election”
The lease was up, the British handed it back, there was some assurances given by Beijing at the time but this was just lip service, it’s part of China now, what did we really think was going to happen? This is how China rules, most of the mainlanders were questioning why HK was getting special treatment. That Beijing is not liked in Shanghai either.
@SPQH: *that said, Beijing is not liked by the average Shanghai person either
@SPQH: The Hong Kong man is very real there. Should we also give the CCP Taiwan, Vietnam, Tibet, Bhutan, all of the south China Sea islands, Macau, Mongolia, north India and more simply because of what the CCP claims is historically part of China?
@Paul Cunningham: you’re making an argument where there isn’t one to be made. It wasn’t a claim, it was on a lease. The UK handed back, no one is handing back any of these other places. What’s you’re argument about? That China has leased all these other places?
@Paul Cunningham: I’m not pro China btw, I’m just pointing out that I’m not surprised the way it’s unfolded, and I fear for ROC/Taiwan
Stripping out every value of democracy that HK was supposed to enjoy for another few decades but keeping all the financial institutions of course. it’s all about money, never the people.
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