Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

These are loans which must be repaid. As the Minister says, cheap capital will be available. I worry that there have only been 656 applications out of the huge total of small and medium-sized businesses. I accept that not everybody will be impacted on as directly by Brexit as others, but given the potential impact the United Kingdom leaving could have on companies, particularly if there is a hard Brexit, we must ask why only 10% of the overall funding is being made available. Is it a cumbersome programme? Is there too much red tape and bureaucracy? These issues must be analysed in advance. We now know that companies are going through an application process, but we also know that only 10% of the overall funding available has been loan sanctioned. I urge the Minister to undertake a quick review and audit of the scheme to ensure that, if it is cumbersome and there is a lot of red tape, or if businesses are discouraged from making an application in the first place, these issues will be addressed now rather than after the event.

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