Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In regard to TBESS, as the Deputy knows, we have effectively changed the thresholds and changed the percentage payout to make it a much more attractive scheme. Companies will now be able to claim 50% of the increase whereas it previously would have been 40%, they qualify on a lower threshold in terms of price increases and the net maximum amount they are able to get per month has also increased to €15,000 from €10,000. Of course, if they have three premises that are on three different billing systems, that threshold could potentially be up to €45,000 a month, for example, if there was a hotel group with three different hotels. TBESS is a much more attractive scheme than it was before. We are seeing a continuing increase in the uptake but I have to say it is still not what I thought it would be in terms of drawdown of money; it is still some 30,000 businesses, or slightly under that figure, that have availed of it so far.

Let us not forget that businesses can claim right back to last September and through until the end of May, and the Government has the capacity to extend it by a further two months if we think it is the right thing to do, and that is without any new legislation as it was built into the legislation that was passed around the Finance Act. We are monitoring TBESS closely. Companies will be able to apply for quite a few months yet, and that is backdated to last September. We may well get a surge of TBESS applications in the second half of the year and we obviously have to make sure we have an Estimate that can cover that.

At the outset of the meeting, I told Deputy O'Reilly that I hope that in the next few weeks we will also be able to bring forward a scheme that works in parallel with TBESS in regard to kerosene and home heating oil for businesses. There are many rural businesses, and some not so rural, such as hotels, restaurants and others, that effectively have a large tank out the back that fuels their heating systems, and those businesses should not be excluded. I have set that principle. Revenue was not able to put in place a scheme for kerosene just because its systems did not allow that easily, so we said we would take a look at it and see if we can do it within the agencies of our Department. It has been a more complicated challenge than I thought it was going to be, but we are pretty close to finalising an approach and I hope to be able to bring that to Government for approval in the next few weeks.

In terms of access to finance, there are some interventions in this space from Government. For example, the growth and sustainability loan scheme, GSLS, is a new long-term loan guarantee scheme jointly developed by my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, underpinned by resources from the European Investment Bank group and delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland. It addresses a gap in the lending market for appropriate longer-term lending for SMEs and follows on from the success of the future growth loan scheme. The GSLS will make up to €500 million in long-term lending available to SMEs, including farmers, fishers and small mid-caps, at a maximum cost to the Exchequer of €115 million. Loans of between €25,000 and €3 million, with terms of up to ten years, will be made available through the scheme to eligible SMEs through participating finance providers, with loans of up to €500,000 available unsecured.

That is one example of a response to what is the legitimate issue the Deputy is raising. Access to competitively costed finance is an issue for SMEs and we are trying to respond to that. There is also a Ukraine enterprise scheme that is about trying to ensure we can put low-cost loans in place for businesses that need to source capital because their business model has been disrupted by the fallout from the brutalities that Russia is inflicting on Ukraine.

With regard to insurance, the insurance action plan’s duty of care will reform or rebalance rights. It is a complex area and the Minister for Justice is bringing it through as soon as possible. I can try to get a more exact date from the Minister, Deputy Harris, and come back to the Deputy. Guidelines have reduced awards by 40% to 50% in the courts, or that is the data we have. Obviously, the courts are independent. The Department is aware of the issue that the Deputy has raised and we are considering how to approach that. We have to respect the division of powers in the context of the courts.

PIAB reform is being implemented by the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary. There is an acceptance that rates are good but we need more people to use the legislation to do this and, of course, it is not obligatory to go to PIAB. The Department will continue to work with the Departments of Finance and Justice and with PIAB to reduce the cost of claims and the cost of insurance. We have seen insurance costs go down significantly in terms of motor insurance, or certainly stop increasing, but the Deputy is right about other sectors where, particularly in the leisure and adventure sectors, it is incredibly restrictive. Our common law system is quite difficult to tally with allowing a sector to get reasonable insurance cover in this area, so more work is needed there.

I am glad the Deputy asked the question on offshore wind. My information is that some of the media reports in recent days regarding what we are likely to see in terms of pricing in the auction that is about to unfold are not accurate. We will have to wait and see what the pricing is but the figure referred to by the Deputy is not the ballpark we are in. I have asked the same questions the Deputy has asked. The pricing will be far more competitive than has been suggested by some of the commentary on the issue, particularly that last Sunday. I certainly hope that is the case because if we are looking at prices in that range, which are significantly more than in Scotland, for example, that would effectively tie in an uncompetitive pricing model for the foreseeable future linked to offshore wind and that is not where we want to be. We will see a much more competitive price than has been suggested by some. The Deputy will not have to wait too long to get those numbers.