Ms Maureen Marray:

On small business, we do have that phased payment arrangement for those which owe less than €5,000. If a small café or restaurant, which owes us €5,000 in warehoused debt, €100 a month over four years would address that debt once we get that engagement from them. Many payment arrangements have been put in place. There is no reason for that business to bury its head in the sand and not come to us. The question was asked earlier about the viability of a business. For Revenue, being able to meet current taxes as they fall due is a key indicator for us of viability. Where we cannot agree a payment arrangement with a business, it is usually because it has problems with current debt and it is calling into question its viability. It is for the business itself to consider what options are available, consult the professionals and consider what is available to it. There are many businesses out there which we have supported. We have a very good track record of supporting businesses right through the last financial crisis, when we kept them afloat. Warehousing was all about maintaining and protecting cash flow and protecting viable businesses. Revenue is in the business of supporting viable businesses once we get that engagement.

I am confident we can support businesses that are worried about their debt and we have to do that. Regarding the 11,000 that have not engaged, we have to do that out of fairness for all the others that have engaged with us in the past week. We have seen strong engagement. We have shown maximum flexibility around the debt warehousing scheme and those that have availed of it. There were a number of extensions as well as a number of communications where businesses encountered current tax compliance issues, which was a key condition of the scheme. We worked with them, they addressed the issues and they remained in the scheme, retaining the benefit. We have done our utmost in keeping businesses in the scheme and keeping that 0% on debt, which is very attractive compared to 10%. The key message is to engage. We cannot say often enough that a business has to engage with us. We have enough flexibility available.