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

I had to step out to make a small contribution in the Dáil Chamber so if I am asking a question that has already been asked, the Chairman may stop me and I will listen to the response on the video afterwards. I apologise for having had to step out. It was an unavoidable absence.

In respect of financial supports available, in his opening statement Mr. McDonnell mentioned that credit is not currently available at affordable rates or, indeed, on reasonable terms in comparison with our European neighbours. While we may not agree on everything, I tend to agree with Mr. McDonnell on that. I ask him to expand on that point and outline what could be done to address it. There is not an endless supply of money. Everybody knows that. However, equally, we are storing up problems for ourselves if we do not support small to medium-sized businesses to recover from the pandemic. Will Mr. McDonnell outline for us what he thinks could be done? I ask him to be realistic and ambitious, if possible.