Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I extend my sympathies to the families of all the people who have lost their lives and a huge "well done" to the front-line services.

The Taoiseach mentioned earlier moneys being made available for businesses to start up again. Cash flow is the biggest problem for any business. When a small to medium-sized business comes out on 18 May, it will start back into work. Companies are paying fixed costs, insurance, leasing costs and rates. The Taoiseach said rates will be written off for three months, but still these companies are coming back into a time when they will have to pay rates again. Some of the companies I am talking about are paying €8,000 and €9,000 a month between all their charges.

Similar to what happened during the most recent economic crash, credit insurers have insisted that no credit be extended to any supplier. To restart any business, a business owner will need to have eight weeks worth of wages, eight weeks of fixed costs and four weeks of materials. The banks replied on this issue and stated that they are inundated and short of staff. Applicants who applied up to six weeks ago have been told that the staff are working from home with little or no Internet coverage and no link to departments. The banks also stated that they are owned by the State and that the stringent policies are too tight, and hinder and prolong decision-making. We need a plan to restart companies and put proper mechanisms in place for them.

The Minister for Finance said two weeks ago in the House that there are five major banks. He forgot to mention the credit unions. The five major banks froze payments on loans for three months but customers will still have to make them in their entirety within the term of the loan. Credit unions were the only financial institutions that extended terms of loans by three months and gave a full break to the people and businesses of Ireland. Credit unions are being over-regulated while the banks are getting extra.

Dentists have been treated badly during this crisis. Hospitals and the HSE closed their clinics on 16 March and dentists were told to keep working. They were offered no PPE and, if they had to source it, were unable to. All GPs are getting a capitation fee of €30 for dealing with Covid-related telephone calls from medical card holders while dentists get nothing.

I wish to talk about the roll-out of broadband. The national broadband plan estimates that there are 540,000 rural premises with little or no Internet service. In Limerick alone, 21,024 houses and businesses have no Internet access. It might be fine for people in Dublin, or other large cities, where Internet coverage is available but, for some people in rural areas, especially Limerick, there is no Internet so those people have no businesses.

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