Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will raise the issue of supports to small business. I did so last week as well. In the intervening period, I have spoken to many small business owners who speak about an escalating crisis in the sector. Time and time again, I have spoken to both the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, about the mounting wall of debt that many of these businesses are facing. The Government put loan schemes in place. These are useful, but interest rates are too high and loans mean that these businesses are piling debt upon debt. Many of them cannot afford to do this. The average SME carries between €7,000 and €8,000 extra in debt because of Covid. Many of them, of course, know that when they reopen, it could take six, or maybe even 12, months before they return to their previous trading position and in the meantime, they will be struggling just to stay afloat.

As I said, the Government has its loan scheme in place and its restart grant, but the take-up is low. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has committed €250 million but many SMEs will only be able to access the minimum amount of €2,000 because of rates paid last year. If one contrasts our response to that of Germany, it has €50 billion in federal grants pledged to SMEs. The equivalent for Ireland would be €2.9 billion. We are talking about €250 million in grant aid. That is one tenth what Germany is allocating. I want to know why is there a reluctance to step in to support businesses that account for 65% of all employment and 31% of our exports.

Also, I raised with the Taoiseach on the last occasion the issue of those businesses that do not pay rates - the wedding industry, the tour operators, the man in the van, the man in the bus, the plumber or the electrician. The Taoiseach stated he would look at that and I ask whether he can confirm that he will.

As often happens in this country, we have an economy within an economy. The three regional assemblies have compiled a report on the impact of Covid. It is not good for any region but it is particularly grim for the north west and the Border. I will highlight one particular statistic that reflects overall what is in this report. The report looked at 64 settlements throughout the country and their exposure to significant economic disruption caused by Covid-19. The two top towns are Bundoran in Donegal, at 75%, and Strandhill in Sligo, at 70%. Carrick-on-Shannon comes 17th - mostly in Leitrim and a tiny bit in Roscommon - out of 64. The report makes it clear that the economic impact of Covid is more severely felt in the north west and the Border and we can see the impact in smaller towns and villages. What I am saying to the Taoiseach is we cannot wait any longer because if we wait too long, viable businesses become vulnerable and vulnerable businesses are likely to close.

At EU level, the unthinkable has happened. The fiscal rules have been relaxed. They were written in blood and we had a referendum on them here, yet France, Germany and Denmark all recognise they have to support their businesses with state aid. Will the Taoiseach please commit to a significant upgrading and increasing of the supports already in place for SMEs?

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