Stanton Urges Consumers to Support Local Business

Cork East Fine Gael TD, David Stanton is calling on people to support local businesses within their own community.

“Local businesses are essential to local communities.  They employ local people and contribute enormously to the local economy.  Local businesses should also support other local enterprises. By supporting local businesses, consumers are helping to keep local people in jobs and keeping money in their area.

“Small local businesses have been hit very hard from our poor economic situation.  The lack of credit availability particularly is having a very negative impact on small businesses. These enterprises are the mainstay of the Irish economy, employing hundreds of thousands of workers and contributing billions to our economy each year.  They must be supported if our economy is going to recover.

“As well as local people supporting local enterprises, I am also delighted to see so much support from local enterprises for their local areas.  In all towns and villages across east Cork, local businesses regularly provide sponsorship for local events.  For example, a wide range of local enterprises are sponsoring the Midleton Food Festival this weekend.

“I am committed to supporting local enterprises as I believe they often offer the best value for money and can also offer a more personal service to consumers.  Fine Gael is very much in favour of improved supports for small businesses through improved availability of credit, reductions in employer PRSI and VAT rates.  Fine Gael controlled local authorities across the country have also frozen business rates within their Council areas.

“As part of our plans to fix our economy and create employment across the country, Fine Gael has produced a comprehensive package of costed proposals for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  Full details of Fine Gael’s SME Survival Package can be viewed through my website at http://stanton.ie/2010/09/06/fine-gaels-sme-survival-package/ on by visiting the Fine Gael website at:  http://www.finegael.org/upload/file/SMESurvivalPackage.pdf