Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues from all sides of the House who have spoken since yesterday evening on this topic. The intention was to place SMEs, which give 350,000 people an income in this country on a daily basis, at the centre of the political debate. We have succeeded to some degree in that regard, given the media coverage and discussion on this topic.

The intention of the motion was to lay down some very specific requirements. Rather than going for a scattergun motion and throwing everything in with it, we laid down very specific requests, such as the introduction of an earned income tax credit, the provision of PRSI and social protection payments, an information campaign from the Department of Social Protection to highlight the services and benefits available to self-employed people, an expansion of the role of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, changes in capital gains tax and an extension to the credit guarantee scheme. While all those things were mentioned approvingly by various Government speakers, what we will actually be voting on is, as I described it last night, the Labrador puppy of Government amendments. Everybody loves it. Everybody will pat it on the head and tell it, "You're a great lad", but there is nothing specific there that we can hold the Government to account on in terms of addressing all the problems that have been raised by speakers on all sides of the House about SMEs. This is why we will vote on the Government amendment. There is nothing specific in terms of addressing an insolvency system that is not working and not delivering, and which will not work and will not deliver under the current scheme.

No mention was made over the two nights of why the Fine Gael Party is selling out the Labour Party again in respect of the bankruptcy term, why the Fine Gael Party is not bringing us in the Twenty-six Counties into line with Northern Ireland and England in terms of bankruptcy laws and why the Taoiseach continues to stick his head in the sand regarding the inadequacies of our insolvency network. We need an insolvency system that will deliver for all cohorts, but particularly for SMEs.

There is nothing specific regarding the credit guarantee scheme and why, after a review published in mid-2014, which highlighted its inadequacies, we are now moving rapidly towards mid-2015 and we are no further on in terms of changing the scheme and addressing those inadequacies. Meanwhile, businesses the length and breadth of the country who need access to that facility are having their loans sold out from under them by banks. They are being sold to foreign funds with no respect, no understanding and no thought for the selfless effort that has gone into building up those businesses and for the people who are working in those businesses. They need a reformed credit guarantee scheme, but it is not a priority. It is put on the long finger.

As I said when I opened this debate last night, this system does not understand how it is for someone to arrive into work on a Monday morning and not know if they will have money to pay their employees, never mind themselves. It does not understand what it is like for someone to go for weeks on end without receiving a cent until somebody pays them, and then they must pay Revenue, the Department of Social Protection, their suppliers and only then, if there is anything left, will the business owner get paid. Life as an SME owner is not, as people like to portray it, all champagne, yachts and big cars. It is very tough. A system that does not understand and whose every response demonstrates that lack of understanding needs to come on that journey and to understand how it is to go without being paid. Then we might see urgency around the credit guarantee scheme and the need for a new business bank. Instead of setting up and giving money to banks that have failed Irish business, and small businesses in particular, we need to set up a new business bank and take them on. The money is there to do it.

That is what these two nights have been about - injecting urgency into this system and into the Minister's Department about SMEs and not treating them like some little child to be patted on the back and told: "You're a great lad. Stay there in the corner, be quiet and don't embarrass us." SMEs are the lifeblood of this economy. They will get this country back on its feet. It is time we had a Government and a system that respected them. The amendment shows no respect and no understanding of the position SMEs are in at present and that is why we will oppose it.

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