Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are supportive of the Revised Estimate. We are complimentary of the urgency and the speed of delivery with regard to the two schemes. I welcome the fact that clarification was provided earlier on the extension of the schemes and also to the fixing of the anomalies such as the maternity benefit but I want to raise wider issues with the Minister in respect of the Government response to this crisis. If we do not deal with these other issues with the same sense of urgency and speed, I believe we will be back here again with further Revised Estimates because we will not be getting our people back to work.

The issue I want to raise is liquidity for our SMEs. They are being starved of liquidity and the schemes that have been announced by the Department are not fit for purpose. Our small businesses are not getting the supports they need and I ask the Minister to say, when the Cabinet meets tomorrow, that we will review the businesses that are being starved of the liquidity they need to get up and running again.

I want to raise also the area of childcare. I was struck by an email I received the other night at 12.45 a.m. The correspondent states that she is a healthcare professional working in their local hospital and that her husband is farming. They have two children aged six and two. For two months straight, they have managed with no childcare, 17 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week. In the past week, they had help three mornings a week and are counting down the weeks until 29 June when her crèche opens. I will condense the email for time purposes. She goes on to state that she has a strong work ethic and moral compass and understands the importance of providing essential services to society, but no more. She has lost all faith in the phases. She states that there was no childcare in phase 1 as promised and asks if there is going to be no childcare in phase 2. She states that she thinks she is done with this ill-thought-out process. If we are not providing childcare to our front-line workers, how will we provide childcare to the people who have to return to work?

I refer to the inconsistencies in the reopening of our economy. We had a situation where garden centres were closed yet Aldi and Lidl continued to sell their products. Dunnes and Tesco are selling clothes yet home-grown boutiques selling menswear and womenswear cannot open up and sell their products. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan put it well this morning on "Morning Ireland". We need to review the inconsistencies that exist and the timeframe to open up the economy. As somebody asked me in a text this morning, who is running the country? Is it Dr. Holohan or the caretaker Government? People advise. The Government needs to take decisions bearing in mind the current competing demands.

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