Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is the Government concerned about the high interest rates to be charged by the Irish banks to distribute the EU financial package? Has it quantified the projected amount that is going to be made by financial institutions in delivering the Covid-19 package? The reason I ask is that the European Central Bank rates today are the lowest ever on record. Deposit rates are minus 0.5% and refinancing rates are 0.05%. It is very difficult for businesses which are taking on more debt to carry up to 4.5% in that amount. These businesses are only coming out of the last financial crash, the impact of the banks and how the banks treated them. Is the Minister of State concerned about this and what are the plans on that? Is the Government measuring the EU rates across the member states to see where we are at?

See this speech in context