Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to acknowledge the work that has been done to support employment. I look forward to the announcement to be made tomorrow. We need to start looking at how to reopen our economy such that we can continue to protect employment. Many older people have told me that when they came back into the world after weeks of cocooning they felt less confident and less safe. Employers, employees and consumers will have a similar feeling and it will impact on our economic recovery. If we fail to give leadership, support and reassurance, our recovery will be stilted. I acknowledge that the advice from NPHET has ensured a slow and steady approach to opening. We also need to give confidence to people. When public health advice allows permitted activities, consumers need to be encouraged to support those employers. People's mindsets have been locked down and it will take Government action and intervention in order to unlock those mindsets.

We need to provide additional supports. The wage subsidy scheme put ground under the feet of many small businesses. However, as they reach the end of that scheme with limited working capital, they face the dilemma of whether they will be forced to let go the staff who they were able to retain. Employers, particularly small businesses, need an off-ramp to the wage subsidy scheme. The key lies in working capital. Employers may have retained employment but they have depleted their working capital. The owners of most small businesses such as corner shops, cafés and independent restaurants typically have very limited working capital. They cannot scale their business beyond the four walls they rent and, as such, a pool of cash is rarely available. In its latest policy document report responding to Covid-19, Dublin Chamber outlined that one third of businesses in Dublin city have less than three months of cash reserves. These small businesses often struggle to secure working capital. It can be almost impossible to do so without providing personal guarantees which often include the family home. I look forward to announcements in that area to support these small businesses.

Employers need to be able to avail of a phasing-out of the wage subsidy scheme that is relevant to their sector. They do not want a handout, but the Government needs to look at a flexible approach to this scheme, other cash supports and the collection of taxes, particularly VAT. This needs to be done over the whole financial year.

Although it does not fall immediately under the Minister's brief, many of those availing of the back to work enterprise allowance scheme of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection have spent months or years working towards self-employment and feel like they are back at square one after Covid-19. They are too small to access meaningfully many of the supports which have been outlined.

A small restart grant would ensure that we have their back. I ask the Minister to have the backs of all these businesses in the post-Covid-19 phase.

See this speech in context