Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister very much for coming before the committee. In my view, I and every other member of this committee and the Oireachtas consider that the supports put in place by this Government and the previous Government were absolutely necessary and have been very successful to date. We can clearly state that had those supports not been provided, many businesses would have gone to the wall by now. Hopefully, once they are weaned off State supports, those businesses will continue in the future. The same applies to the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, which was absolutely necessary from the point of view of employees.

Having said that, I will ask a question about the dividend payments. The spirit of the supports put in place by the State and objective of the Oireachtas was to ensure that businesses could survive through a very difficult business period because of the pandemic. None of us ever envisaged that businesses in receipt of State support would pay out dividends to shareholders. Certainly, I did not envisage that and I raised the matter with the Minister in October 2020. I am also sure the Minister did not envisage it happening. Under the equivalent scheme operated in the UK, the Covid corporate financing facility, there is a requirement that no dividends be paid and there be no buyback of shares. Did the Minister or his Department given consideration to a similar condition being introduced for the supports put in place by this Government and the previous Government?