Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 December 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Brexit and Readiness of Businesses, Employees and Communities: Discussion

Mr. John James O'Hara:

I will come in on that issue. We checked with SBCI and the SBCI loan fund of one of the major banks had been exhausted. The SBCI loan scheme was meant to be a support for companies in need of assistance. It was 80% guaranteed by the Government. The major bank in Ireland did not have funds in its facility to issue loans to businesses. That is a major problem, especially in the context of Brexit. We see three possible scenarios in terms of Brexit. I find it difficult to believe that any company can be ready for any of those three scenarios. Support is needed. If the banks that are meant to be supporting the SBCI scheme cannot fund it at this stage, three weeks from a deadline, that is very worrying for us.