Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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With regard to supports for businesses, we gave huge supports during Covid and most businesses were really appreciative of that at the time. There is certainly a feeling when I talk to businesses that the supports given to businesses in the UK are much more supportive of business and enterprise than those given in Ireland. Do the witnesses find that is the case? There are probably budget negotiations taking place at the moment and anything the Department proposes has to be approved by the Department of Finance. Is there a challenge within the Department of Finance in terms of putting proposals forward to support businesses? Obviously it is looking at how we can get more revenue coming in whereas from the witnesses' perspective, we are trying to ease the pressure on businesses. Are there challenges for the Department in getting support from the Department of Finance?