Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to return to a point previously touched on by Deputy McGuinness concerning the SME sector. I would like to reflect on some of the points the witnesses made in their analysis of SMEs' financial health, rude or otherwise. I am quite close to the SME sector. I share Deputy McGuinness's concerns about the financial well-being of a lot of businesses at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, let alone during the emergence from it. What are the witnesses' overall thoughts on the demand side? I would think that we are in for a quite negative demand outlook for the next 12 to 18 months, simply because there will be a lot of fear. There will be changes in the nature of demand with people not working and so on.

The other point made in the submission concerns the potential for fiscal enlargement as opposed to fiscal consolidation. I refer to the possibility of increases in employers' pay-related social insurance, PRSI, contributions and of targeting pension plans. Employers are very concerned that they are probably facing into such measures. Do the witnesses have any points to make on that?