Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I will take the last question first. All of the preparation that we did for Brexit has been extremely useful in how we are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many structures were in place and we had many different supports. We have been able to expand and improve on them. We certainly have not forgotten about Brexit. Although, I will be honest: all our focus currently is on supporting businesses and helping them to deal with the impact of this pandemic. It is clear what we have to do. First, as Deputy Heydon said, we had the initial shock. Now we are in the sustainment phase. The third phase is the reboot phase. That is when we need to put in place additional supports. We have already put in place the wage subsidy scheme and the enhanced pandemic unemployment payment. These have cost over €4 billion. This was the right thing to do. I know many companies have taken on board the wage subsidy scheme and they have been able to use it very effectively. It has proved very popular.

The one thing that people and businesses ask for is cashflow. Their first port of call is the banks. I spoke with the heads of the three major banks yesterday. All said that two thirds of the requests made to them were for payment breaks. There is a three-month moratorium arrangement on loans. I understand the period has been extended to six months. The banks have said they are working with businesses. A business operator should go to her bank first. The next port of call is the different supports that are available. The local enterprise offices, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are available to work with clients and businesses to help them through this difficult period.

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