Pat Casey (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for attending. Let me put it on record that my family business has benefited from nearly every scheme that has been mentioned today. I am one of the 51,000 employees and one of the 25,000 premises that have availed of these schemes. Without them my family business would not be alive today and would have folded. I acknowledge the supports that have been provided to businesses. They have kept a significant number of businesses afloat through a very challenging time.

Before Christmas, myself and Senator Maria Byrne raised an issue with the Minister related to businesses that operate on a seasonal basis accessing the EWSS. They had to de-register from the EWSS and could not re-register in January. I acknowledge the changes that the Minister made to the scheme to allow seasonal hospitality sectors to re-avail of the EWSS and changes were made to turnover.

My company has lodged money into the tax warehousing scheme and we borrowed significantly more money over the last period to keep afloat. Many small family businesses will have built up an historical debt, which will be an ongoing challenge into the future. What is the level of debt now? How many businesses have availed of the warehousing scheme? Perhaps the Minister can give me the information.