Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is all right. I thank the witnesses. Mr. Makhlouf said that 100% guarantees are not a good thing in general. However, I put it to him that we are not in general times. We are, indeed, in unprecedented times so what may not be good in general might be very good in these unprecedented times. I am conscious of another Deputy waiting to get in so I will put my questions and if the witnesses do not have time to respond perhaps we can get their responses in writing. The Central Bank has estimated that SMEs will require between €2.4 billion and €5.7 billion in external supports to cover their non-payroll expenses. Despite this, only €244 million has been disbursed as yet. In comparison, £303.85 million has been disbursed by the Minister in the North. That is obviously a much smaller economy but a significantly higher amount of money. I ask Mr. Makhlouf to comment on the adequacy of the schemes in comparison with the liquidity that is actually needed and estimated by the Central Bank. What potential impact could this have on the broader economy, and specifically on employment? As we hopefully - fingers crossed - exit the height of the pandemic, the unemployment rates are going to have a serious bearing on our capacity to recover. It is not just about the number of jobs but the quality of those jobs, because we certainly will not recover the economy off the back of precarious and low-paid work. In its quarterly economic bulletin, the Central Bank states: "PUP numbers generally exceed TWSS numbers, initially reflecting slow TWSS take-up by firms." What does Mr. Makhlouf think has caused this slow uptake of the wage subsidy scheme? Can he explain it? Perhaps he can offer a view on what potential impact that is going to have, specifically on employment levels.