Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 9 June 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Reopening the Economy: Supports for Business

Mr. Neil McDonnell:

The issue is around the fear factor.

If one looks at the terms and conditions of the sustaining enterprise fund, it is pitched at manufacturing and international trading. My personal read from the outside is that there is this fear factor that if liquidity is given to businesses, they will do something naughty with it. We are saying that liquidity is blood for businesses and if they do not get it, they die. Stop tying this stuff up in terms and conditions. Give people simple, quick access to liquidity. Run it through the Revenue so nobody is cheating and nobody is doing any better. We really need to move away from what we are doing at the moment.