Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the comments on local enterprise offices, which are very important. I met representatives of them again recently in Limerick and they are the first port of call when people come in, especially those in small and medium enterprises. I thank the Minister for her presentation and her Department for sending us the notes. I am particularly pleased to see redistribution of the €26 million benefitting Science Foundation Ireland, which is very important. I am also pleased to see the new loan scheme that aims to help businesses with the effects of Brexit.

I would like to have seen additional funding for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. As Sinn Féin has said before, we are not satisfied with the current level of funding or staffing and we would have preferred to see greater emphasis on the tackling of white collar crime in Ireland. I understand the Minister is bringing forward new legislation in the area but I cannot see any reason for additional staff or personnel not being hired now and transferred to a new agency when it is up and running. It is a sad state of affairs in the country when people are going to prison almost on a weekly basis for not paying their television licence fee etc. but nobody is being brought to justice with respect to the tracker mortgage scandal, for example, which involves more than €1 billion. We genuinely need major reform in the way we deal with white collar crime. That is just a comment on the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and I look forward to the legislation being brought forward by the Minister, which we can consider.

My first question on the Supplementary Estimate relates to Enterprise Ireland and its resource income. I may have asked the question before but I understand Enterprise Ireland can currently take 10% equity in business. Is that the legal limit or is it a policy decision? If it is a policy decision, what is the high limit we could go to if we wished to? I also have a question on the future growth loan scheme, as was mentioned by Deputy Boyd Barrett. Is there an estimate for the number of businesses that could avail of the scheme? Is there a cap on the number of businesses? For how many years will the scheme be in operation? Will there be a budget allocation required for the scheme every year? What are the anticipated interest rates on the scheme?