Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can deal with each of those in turn. I will begin with accessing airlines and so on. It is the case that many very high-profile national carriers in other countries have received funding from their own governments. It is a tribute to the way in which a number of very big airlines are run here in Ireland that they are able to keep access going and the support they have received is a matter for them. We have brought in some broadly available support schemes for the entire economy. They may or may not have participated in them but up to this point they have been able to maintain the level of access they have without some of the very high-profile things that have happened in other countries.

In respect of the EU and what is happening in other countries, the issues we have debated regarding the speed of recovery here in Ireland play out across the entire European Union. The impact that Covid-19 has had on the economic growth of member states of the European Union is divergent. Some countries have taken a hit of a particular magnitude. Other countries have taken far bigger hits. The next generation EU initiative and the recovery and resilience fund that was launched by the European Commission and the European Council is vital because that is trying to close the gap between different member states of the European Union to try to bring all countries to an average level of recovery. That is why the historic decision has been made in respect of the availability of grants towards member states of the European Union.

It absolutely is the right thing for the European Union and it is a significant development. If one looks at what the European Central Bank is now doing and if one looks at the Next Generation EU recovery plan, there is a profound difference between these kind of interventions and where we were ten years ago and it represents a gigantic change.

On the Deputy's point regarding employers re-equipping, Deputy Lahart, in his questioning, talked about the consequences of 2008 and 2011 and what that means for policymaking today. One of the important consequences in dealing with this crisis is that the level of private and corporate debt in the Irish economy as we entered the Covid-19 crisis was far lower than it had been at other times. That will prove to be an incredibly important part of how companies have equipped themselves to recover. The combined impact of that and the work we are doing in restart grants, the income subsidy schemes and so on can help employers of all sizes recover from the economic effects of this terrible disease.