Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

He would be delighted to address my followers. I apologise to the Chair. I am being heckled by the Minister of State. I also brought in Deirdre Smith, the director of the Northside Centre for the Unemployed, who put the unemployed point of view. I listened to the issues raised from the floor that night and many sensible points were made on small matters we could easily address. People emphasised the need for us all to work together and to develop strategies around customer relationships with small businesses. People said small businesses needed to connect with other small businesses in their communities. This social connection is very important in a small country like Ireland. A huge issue that was raised from the floor of the meeting related to local enterprise office grants, and there are also issues around small businesses not being paid on time. These are real problems. Access to finance was also raised as a significant issue. Many people felt excluded and some small business owners said they were being discriminated against. These are important issues. Attendees noted the need to develop an educational system which promotes independent thinking about job creation.

This issue arose under the education heading. There are some progressive schools, but they seem to develop entrepreneurs and creative people with new ideas off their own bat. We need to roll that out nationally. These are the types of suggestion that were made on the floor at the public meeting.

Other sensible points were made, for example, the strong emphasis on the need for everyone to shop locally. Approaching the general election, it is important that the large parties not import printing materials. They must buy locally. If everyone spends €20 extra per week in small businesses, it will generate approximately 20,000 jobs. Deputies need to lead by example and practise what we preach, that is, buy locally and from Irish sources.

Deputy Tóibín mentioned the debate on credit unions and their contribution to society through small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs. According to the debate over the past two days, there are 2.89 million members of the credit union movement and 342 credit unions are affiliated with the Irish League of Credit Unions, ILCU. I would love to see the Government legislating on the major issue in this regard, that of microcredit, which is lending small amounts to the most vulnerable who would otherwise be pushed into the hands of moneylenders.

Credit unions are interested in making significant amounts of money available to finance social housing from the €8 billion that is currently held in investments. I understand that this idea is on the desk of the Minister, Deputy Kelly. They also want to get involved in lending to small and micro-businesses. It is important that we raise these issues. The movement has included relevant policies in its Six Strategic Steps policy document, which we should read carefully.

The Bill amends the legislation under which the Government's credit guarantee scheme was established in 2012 to address the specific market failures that prevent bank lending to economically viable businesses. It also extends the range of financial products and finance providers to which the scheme applies, seeks to rebalance risks between the State and finance providers and charges a premium for the scheme. These amendments are intended to improve uptake of the scheme among SMEs.

The element dealing with lending to commercially viable businesses is important. We must be sensible because we cannot make the mistakes of the past. People with sensible and viable businesses should be at the top of the pile, as they have the potential to develop and take on extra staff. If every SME took on one or two extra people, it would make a contribution to the more than 200,000 people who are currently unemployed.

We have lost many skilled people in the past five or six years. We must draw them back to Ireland. Emigrants often return with new skills and ideas and radical and creative thinking. This factor should be taken on board.

Broadly speaking, a loan guarantee scheme is a facility whereby banks are able to lend to firms that are otherwise having difficulty qualifying for bank financing due to, for example, a lack of adequate collateral or a poor track record. The loan is guaranteed by the scheme and, in the case of default, the lender recovers its value. Given the proposed amendments, the net cost of supporting €150 million in guaranteed lending per annum will be approximately €18.376 million over the scheme's lifetime.

I welcome this legislation. We must be more creative in developing the SME sector, as it is often forgotten. We need a strong private sector that works closely with a strong and efficient public sector. We will always need a public sector, although there are some in government who do not necessarily share this philosophy. The ideal is to have a mixed, democratic and inclusive economy so that we can generate wealth and distribute it in a fair and balanced way. I hope the Minister of State takes on board some of my ideas.

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