Business lobby’s budget wish list ‘contradictory’

Some of the largest business lobby groups have been accused of being contradictory with their wish lists for next month’s budget.

In his contribution to yesterday’s sitting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Deputy Joe Higgins branded representatives of Ibec, the Small Firms Association and Chambers Ireland — each of whom were addressing the meeting — as “contradictory” and “supporters of Government austerity”. He added each was being supportive of more public service cuts, instead of higher taxes for big multinational firms.

In response, Ibec chief economist Fergal O’Brien said that the employers’ body had “no austerity fetish” and had not been obsessed with austerity for the sake of it; adding the heavy adjustments seen in recent budgets had been essential for the restoration of economic stability.

Ian Talbot — chief executive of Chambers Ireland — responded by saying his organisation was simply “a supporter of a balanced budget, not austerity”.

Mr O’Brien also reiterated Ibec’s pre-budget submission for a slightly more relaxed budgetary adjustment (€2.6bn, rather than €3.1bn) saying €500m less would still comfortably allow Ireland reach its 2014 budget deficit targets. He said Budget 2014 must be a budget for entrepreneurship and investment.

In response to a query from Fine Gael’s Kieran O’Donnell on whether confidence was coming back, Small Firms Association chairman AJ Noonan said it was “a very fragile confidence” and one which “could be blown out of the water” if the budget contained any nasty surprises.

Chambers and the SFA both reiterated their calls for a lowering of the capital gains tax rate for entrepreneurs, and improved support for SMEs to access working capital.