Mr. Declan Hughes:

I think so. If I may finish my point about retail, our online retail scheme, which has undergone two pilots in 2018 and 2019, has been accelerated again this year. We had 380 applicants for €5 million in funding in July. We will announce another award at the end of this year. As members will see, further funding has been allocated for next year.

There is a similar picture on the climate side. Businesses have seen some of the things they can do. Remote working certainly helps to reduce travel time to work and increases productivity in many ways. Just this year we have collaborated with the local enterprise offices to launch a new green enterprise voucher to get businesses to take the first step. That will include carrying out audits and assessments to show where businesses can reduce waste, increase efficiencies or improve their energy use. The first steps in a green transition are auditing, assessment and planning. The next step is ensuring that we have the funding instruments to help businesses on that journey. As the Deputy will be aware, we already have supports and schemes to assist start-ups in the green economy and to respond to climate change. We offer support for the commercialisation of technology emerging from the research system and for collaboration with the research sector. One example is the Dairy Processing Technology Centre, which is a collaboration between dairy companies, Science Foundation Ireland research centres and small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs. Its objective is to reduce the carbon footprint of operations within factories. Some 20% of the dairy sector's carbon emissions come from within the factory gates. This initiative aims to reduce that. Some €10 million has been allocated in the July stimulus for further initiatives in support of the green economy and to help businesses with audits and with transformations.

This is not limited to new initiatives. Much of the funding which goes to businesses is now linked to environmental aid, which is allowable under EU state aid rules. That allows us to support investment. For example we would not necessarily support the replacement of existing equipment which is not as energy-efficient as the best available technologies. There is a role for the State in incentivising that investment. Members will also be aware that budget 2021 made improvements to the accelerated capital allowance for more energy-efficient equipment. Our policy is a combination of carrots and sticks. Businesses see the problem in terms of the market, including carbon taxes and international market demand for firms to have green credentials and be part of the circular economy. Several businesses in the recycling sector have signed up to a new responsible recycling, R2, standard. This has now been accredited by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, which is one of our agencies. It certifies businesses as having a fully compliant supply chain, which opens up new markets for those businesses.

Surveys from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show that between 1% and 2% of businesses have ceased trading in the past five or six months for various reasons. They were not resilient at the beginning of the crisis. We also know from the CSO that turnover for between 8% and 10% of businesses did not meet operating costs at the end of August. That group is vulnerable, but many of those businesses are viable in the medium to long term. Supports such as the Covid restrictions support scheme, the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme and the restart grant plus have been providing direct support for those businesses and sustaining them. I note that the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme has now been extended through next year. The key concern in offering this support is helping those enterprises to pivot, develop new business plans and find new opportunities. Some will need to go through the examinership process. The Minister and his predecessor, Deputy Heather Humphreys, wrote to the Company Law Review Group and progress has been made on an improved examinership process. We are expecting good progress on that.