Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Bill does not deal with access to finance but it is a major issue which we are tracking in the Department. We would be willing to review the credit guarantee and proposals brought through the system with the approval of the House of the Oireachtas. They are working extremely well and de-risk financial providers of those loans, be they credit unions, mainstream banks or others. They are encouraged to back sustainable businesses because the State and the EU take on some of the risk.

The credit guarantees in place for this and next year, which we have extended, should be sufficient but we can track that and monitor any judgments. The Credit Review Office will deal with refusals of credit. We can track that as well. They are measures in place now that were not in place after the last financial crisis and which would have been of great benefit back then. Structures are in place but we will have an ongoing review of that and track that.

The Deputy referred to equity as opposed to borrowing finance. The SME task force highlighted this as an issue we need to look at to encourage equity stakes in SME communities and microbusinesses. The budget will look at that but there are no proposed changes linked to this legislation. The point is well made and I will track that.

In this case, the threshold for proceeding with a proposal is a majority of creditors by value. That is different to an examinership, which is a majority by value and number. That should result in greater acceptance of the plans.

On the necessity to qualify as a liquidator, it is important that the person who will become process adviser has the qualifications to do the job. The Deputy made the point that it should not be cost prohibitive. A number of people are qualified to do it and it is linked in the legislation. Ms Keane may wish to speak on the specific qualifications but my understanding is that the bar is not especially high but not everybody concentrates on this business. Once this process is in place, we may see a number of companies use it that have not been able to use examinership processes in the past. More people might make themselves available as process advisers.

The question the Deputy will probably ask next is what are the likely numbers. We do not know. The Deputy and many others have made the case strongly that this legislation needs to be put in place and we share that view. We have no idea what the numbers will be like because Government supports, with the backing of the full Houses of the Oireachtas, have kept those businesses alive to this stage. Only in the recovery stage will we find out what businesses are in a position to continue. Hopefully the majority will, but we have to recognise that some companies will need to avail of a scheme like this. Even at that, this process will not save all companies. Does Ms Keane wish to respond on the issue of qualifications?