Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Impact of Covid-19: Hospitality Sector

Mr. Adrian Cummins:

The banks at the beginning came in kicking and screaming. The Minister told them to give some sort of help, which amounted to deferment of loans. There have been no loans written off. There has been no assurance by the banks for our sector in particular, where people tend to have personal guarantees for loans on commercial property or enterprises. The banks have stated there will be no action on personal guarantees. We should remember the Irish people bailed out the Irish banks to the tune of €65 billion and the banks must do a little more to help SMEs across the country.