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

I ask the Tánaiste to aim for 90 and see if he can surpass that target. We know the work inspectors do is valuable so recruiting more of them would be beneficial. The Tánaiste has said 60 is the target for the moment but that is a drop in the ocean. More and more people are going to be reliant on the WRC to vindicate their rights under the law. The Tánaiste said that one can go to the WRC under the Organisation of Working Time Act, which is true, but one must still wait a long time. The WRC needs an overall increase in staff. Inspectors are at the front line so we would like to see a target of at least 90, which was the previous target.

I am sorry to be jumping between topics but I am trying to go through my notes. Can the Tánaiste give us any updated information on the uptake and popularity of some of the loan schemes? Some of them are significantly more popular than others. The schemes include the Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme and the future growth loan scheme. Some people in business have raised with me the fact that some of the schemes are working and others are not. Does the Tánaiste have a view as to which ones are working and why it is the case that others do not seem to have a high take-up rate? In this environment, the take-up rate should be huge but some of the schemes do not have a high take-up rate. I do not know if that is because of an associated administrative burden. Business owners tell me they want to engage but it is not always easy. Is the Tánaiste minded to divert moneys from schemes that are not working into schemes that are working? Moneys are not being drawn down under some of those schemes. Would the Tánaiste be tempted to take another go at those schemes or to divert that money?