Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Impact of Covid-19: SME Recovery

Mr. John A. Moran:

I think the priority was put into different areas in the past couple of months, particularly the health area and the income support level. We are the ones who have been advocating for this, so I am no longer the Secretary General who has to defend what is happening. I am agreeing with the Deputy that we needed action and that we needed it quicker but what I am saying is that it took us a lot of time and effort to get SMEs front and centre into the solution of what we need to do because this crisis is different. It has taken a lot of time to understand that some of the measures that were not possible the last time are the right measures this time around.