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 say that we could increase or decrease the amount of grant aid we get to firms in order for those decisions to be no longer mono-dimensional. The difficulty up to now is that many of the decisions we have taken about reopening dates, closing dates, 1 m or 2 m all have economic consequences. If the State is prepared to underwrite those decisions, I am sure many of the SMEs would not mind as much about it. When we do not underwrite the consequences of those decisions, like the people in Leicester today and the businesses opening, then it is a totally different analysis. If the Deputy were to tell me that there was a €6 billion or €7 billion grant scheme already in place, the answer to that question would be very different than it is without that grant scheme in place.