Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Indeed, they were relaxed and we will borrow something like €30 billion this year - maybe 10% of GDP - the largest deficit in a very long time. We are certainly not being shy when it comes to spending and borrowing money on behalf of future generations to get us through this crisis. There is in place a rates waiver for three months, tax liabilities are being warehoused, and there is a reopening grant of up to €10,000. The uptake is high, not low, and we will have to put more money into it because it is so high. There are debt deferral mechanisms from the banks, low-cost loans available and a whole plethora of other grants, including online trading grants and grants from the local enterprise offices. We are examining other additional measures and that work is being done by the Departments of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Public Expenditure and Reform.

I am interested in what the Deputy said about Germany. I did not know that and it is significant information for me. If it is grants and loans, we are in a similar space, but if what Germany is doing is all grants, it is doing a lot more than us. I would be interested in hearing any more information on that the Deputy can share with me.

On businesses and sole traders that are not rateable, which the Deputy raised with me last week, we are examining that. The reopening grant is based on a rebate of a business's rates, and because such businesses do not pay rates, they do not qualify. We are looking at a different mechanism, of maybe giving them back some of their income tax from a previous year as a means to help them get their business going again. That is what we are examining with regard to that.

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