David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I disagree with the Minister's analysis of the Brexit loan scheme. She stated that 430 companies had applied and 81 had been successful and would benefit. Only 430 companies have applied. What about those that have not? Businesses tell us that they cannot engage with the scheme because it is too cumbersome and needs to be overhauled. The Government has not dealt with that issue. Only 81 out of the 430 have progressed to the point of being able to avail of the scheme. That is not enough.

I can see nothing in this Bill for the agrifood sector apart from what is available for everyone else. There are no bespoke supports for it.

I am flabbergasted that we have debated supports for the SME sector and there has been no contribution whatsoever from Fianna Fáil. It is obvious that Fianna Fáil believes that the Government is doing a great job in supporting SMEs and that, if there is a hard crash, everything the Government is putting in place will be enough. Many SMEs will be disgusted that one of the larger political parties has offered no contribution to this debate on the additional supports that business requires. It is a dereliction of responsibility by Fianna Fáil.

That party might be keeping the Minister in her job, but she is the one responsible for putting in place a suite of measures for businesses. She has missed the point entirely. She rattled off the supports that were in place. I have already conceded that they are in place - we do not believe they are enough or adequate - but the additional supports being sought all have to do with a hard crash. She is missing that point. Businesses, in particular exporting SMEs that are most exposed because they have a strong trading relationship with Britain, need these supports now irrespective of a hard crash, yet the Minister is fiddling around the edges of most of these proposals without making substantive changes and is saying that these will only apply if there is a hard crash. Wake up and smell the reality. There are businesses that need these additional supports now.

No one wants to see a hard crash and I still believe it is unlikely, but if there is a hard crash, many businesses will be very exposed. They will be disappointed and sore that this is the best the Government can do. It is deeply ideological. It is Fine Gael once again saying that the market should solve these problems and interventions by the State should be as limited as possible. That is the problem. The Government does not see that the mammoth challenges facing the economy and businesses need State interventions and supports of a greater scale than the minimalist one it is proposing.

We will press the amendment to a vote and will view it as a vote of no confidence in the Government's support for business, which is what these amendments are concerned with. Much more needs to be done. The Minister does not realise that. If she believes that, by attending an InterTradeIreland event and speaking to a small number of businesses, everything is hunky dory, it is not. There are businesses that are struggling because of Brexit. When we meet them, they tell us that the Government is not doing enough.

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