Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 8, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:“(iv) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (d):

“(d) without prejudice to the generality of section 8(4), the method of payment of the premium under section 8 and the time or times at which the premium shall be paid;”.”.

I will discuss amendments Nos. 12, 19, 20 and 26. Section 5 of the principal Act is primarily about the schemes made under legislation to date, namely during 2012 and 2015. The amendments to section 5 of the Bill are to ensure new schemes can adequately cover the expanded types of financial products to be covered. There are also some amendments covering matters flagged on Second Stage, particularly subsection (d) which is a necessary cross reference to the correct part of the new section 8 on policies and principles on the matter of charging a premium to cover the Minister's costs. I will return to this topic later. I commend amendment No. 12 to the committee.

Regarding amendment No. 19, section 8 of the principal Act relates to payment of premia to the Minister. The substitution is designed to take account of the types of products and the need for flexibility in the rate referred to. By this approach we have, in effect, already gone a long way towards accepting the principle of Deputy Tóibín's amendments and the revised section 8 meets his requirement which regards credit unions and crowd funding, while also ensuring appropriate scope for flexible application of the legislation. I commend the revised section 8 to the committee.

I will now turn to amendment No. 26. Under the current legislation on credit guarantees, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation receives a premium in respect of the guarantees issued. This amendment provides that the charging structure for the counter guarantee schemes operates within the charging structures and principles contained in the Bill. It will be designed to ensure the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will receive the same level of premium adjusted to reflect the level of risk to which the Minister is exposed in each counter guarantee scheme. When determining the level of premium, the Minister must have regard to a number of factors as set out in the amendment. These include the objectives of the scheme and the likely expense of running the scheme. The manner in which the premium will be calculated must be clearly set out in each counter guarantee scheme. The amendment provides that the premium for a counter guarantee can only be used towards defraying the cost of the scheme. In this way the cost of the premium will be kept as low as possible for the SMEs accessing finance under such schemes. I commend the amendment to the committee.