Dearey 'freaked out' by welcome
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Wednesday March 10 2010
NEW Louth Green Party Senator Mark Dearey said he was 'almost freaked out' by the welcoming comments made to him when he entered the Seanad, notably, that his background in business qualified him to be an expert in business.
'I will make it clear,' he told the Seanad during a debate on job creation. 'In the overall economy I am a bottom feeder. I take product in, add value and sell it on. It takes me and nine others to do that and we are employed gainfully in doing it, but it is the people I rely on - customers - many of whom are involved in exports, who are the real wealth creators. That is the great engine of wealth creation in any economy.'
On the question of costs for exporters, he said there was a tacit acknowledgement that our PRSI rates in this country were high at 10.75%.
' We must examine that in a clear sighted way and determine whether it is a block towards attracting investment into the country and a factor that makes our potential exporters less competitive,' he said. 'We must do that in a clear sighted way and assess all the costs incurred by exporting businesses through the lens of job creation.
'I work closely with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, on the way local authorities can cut a less burdensome deal with businesses, especially exporting businesses,' he said.
