Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. My first questions are for Mr. McDonnell. I want to start my contribution with some observations. I agree with him that for decades the State has had an absolute fixation with multinational corporations and foreign direct investment to the detriment of the indigenous and SME sectors. While it may be a conversation for another day, I agree - I have been banging this drum for some time - that we need to reorient our national industrial policy focus, anticipating some very significant changes that will be coming down the line in regard to the global competitive environment that we expect to see when changes are made to corporation tax regimes, both in Europe, which is inevitable, and elsewhere. It is something with which we need to grapple.

We are not good at separating out the small-scale from the medium or the micro from the medium. There is a whole spectrum.

We need to segment that and focus our supports and policy in that direction. We need to get our SME house in order. We are very poor at scaling up high-potential start-ups in this country and making them more export orientated, notwithstanding the very good work Enterprise Ireland and others do.

On the uptake of the liquidity schemes announced by Government, the levels speak for themselves. They have been absolutely abysmal to date. I accept what Mr. Danny McCoy said about companies having to take decisions when they open and when they have a clearer perspective on what the environment is going to be like. Using the example of Microfinance Ireland, a 4.5% interest rate over a relatively short period compared with a comparable scheme in the UK is not where we should be at. I am a big supporter of what Microfinance Ireland does and its principles but there needs to be a significant change there. Can the witnesses tell me what is the one single transformational thing that can be done to get liquidity to businesses when they need it, where they need them and soon?