Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I attended some of the meetings that she mentioned, and I commend the enterprise agencies on doing their best. However, I wish to express my surprise that no other legislation will be required for businesses.

To follow up on a question that Deputy Butler asked, what contact has the Minister or the Government had with the EU requesting emergency measures in the event of a hard Brexit? The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, announced this week that unemployment could increase by 2% in a no-deal Brexit. Would it not be prudent to prepare legislation for an employment assistance scheme to help companies that could find themselves struggling?

Is the Minister satisfied that the current Brexit business support schemes are working as well as they could? Their extremely low uptake rate suggests they need serious adjustment if we are to ensure that businesses are able to make use of them. Only 5% of the €300 million Brexit loan scheme has been drawn down to date. What is the Minister doing to ensure a higher uptake of that scheme? Does she intend to modify it to make accessing it easier for business?

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