Dáil debates

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised)

 

12:55 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Tánaiste well in his new role and congratulate him on his stunning performance in his previous role. I also wish the Taoiseach and the various Ministers well in their roles. We find ourselves at a very important juncture in regard to the future of business and industry in this country. The issues that are unfolding before us are part of what must be a new agenda. We are facing new challenges and more will emerge on a daily basis. Previous speakers have noted that we are in a situation now where we are required to monitor what is happening in the business sector as time goes by. Challenges will emerge in various aspects of the sector, whether in manufacturing or, in particular, the services sector, which is very vulnerable to whims and changes in the marketplace. We also must have regard to how other European countries are treating the issues that are arising. We must recognise that the pandemic was a Europe-wide issue that affected everybody and will continue to affect everybody, and that we had no control over its visitation or when it is likely to leave. Great efforts have been made to contain it and we are thankful that they have been successful thus far.

The issue I want to emphasise is that we are in a new business environment. Other speakers referred to credit and the availability of credit. This is hugely important because the challenges that are facing the various sectors are unique. They have not been touched upon before other than during the financial crisis. Many people in industry and in the small business sector are just emerging from the challenges of the financial collapse only to find there are new challenges coming before them and trying to beat them back to where they came from.

The availability of credit is vital for businesses, along with the grants and all the other assistance that has been referred to. During the financial collapse, credit disappeared overnight and remained gone for a very long time. As every day passed, more and more damage was done to the business sector, particularly the small and medium-sized enterprises. People have raised questions and said that if businesses are really successful they should be able to re-emerge in any event. That is not so because that is not the way business works. Business requires credit. It cannot work without it. I ask the Tánaiste to pay special attention to the request from the sector regarding the availability of credit because that is what will revive the business sector.

I also want to say a few words about the EU and how it deals with the recovery. People will say that we are a wealthy country and that we are net contributors to the EU. That may well be the case but we are affected by the pandemic in the same way as every other European country and our economy is equally affected by it. We must recognise the urgent need to ensure we avail of whatever is coming from the eurozone, and from European countries in general, from the substantial budget that has already been put in place. It is of critical importance that we avail of it insofar as we can and for as much as is possible because we will get no credit whatsoever for being the cool heroes and saying we will leave this to others who are less well off. Despite our recovery from the financial crash, we are not so well off that we can afford to say we do not want any further assistance. We do and we need to avail of it as it becomes available.

I have used most of my five minutes and any of my colleagues who wish to speak can do so now.

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