Small firms are looking for a two-year tax write-off for Y2K capital expenditure they incur. Mr Kieran Crowley, of the Small Firms' Association (SFA), addressing the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business yesterday, said the cost of ensuring compliance was acting as a disincentive to many small firms. A tax write-off package was "imperative" to offer sufficient incentive to small firms to ensure they were compliant.

He said recent analysis carried out by the SFA had concluded that two-thirds of small firms could face temporary closure as a result of Y2K problems.