David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests.

I agree with Deputy O'Reilly in terms of being cautious about waiving pre-legislative scrutiny. In one sense, however, this is pre-legislative scrutiny, given that we are discussing the Bill.

I will ask one or two brief questions. Mr. Hughes told us that since the start of the pandemic, €931 million had been sanctioned. How much of that has been drawn down? He stated that amount was across 8,000 businesses. That would be €116,000 on average if my math is correct. Of the overall 230,000 SMEs, 8,000 seems a small number. That might be a good thing and mean that SMEs are not under any pressure, but as Mr. Hughes noted, many businesses are reluctant to take out extra borrowings and pressure in that regard.

For the purpose of this Bill, how does the Department define SMEs? It is probably the usual definition, but the witnesses might put it on the record.

Deputy Bruton touched on the repayment situation. I note that loans are repayable after three years, six years and so on. Will the witnesses say more about when businesses will be expected to repay? If they are still under pressure in future, might there be rollovers or what other kinds of relief could they get?

It was stated that 137,000 farmers had a combined output of €8 billion in 2019. I believe the horticultural sector in particular was mentioned.

Can Mr. Hughes give us an indication of the demand for loans such as these from the agricultural and horticultural communities? What kinds of pressures are they are under?