Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Any Bill that the Government should put forward supporting microenterprises should take these specifics into account. That is the point I am making. I am appealing to the Government to do that and, in the mean time, I am appealing to the Government not to cut their payments but to maintain those payments as income subsidies. Taxi drivers do not want to remain unemployed. They do not particularly want an unemployment payment. They want to be able to work but there has to be a recognition on the part of the Government that for them, particularly those who are worst hit - this is true of other microenterprises - there is no likelihood of a full recovery any time soon. We need to maintain income subsidies to them and also allow them to earn on top of that until they reach the point where they stand on their own two feet because there is a genuine recovery. That is the point I am making.

Deputy Catherine Murphy mentioned sound engineers. People in the arts, live entertainment and music industry also will not benefit from this Bill as they will not be able to access these loans. They would not pass muster or even be considered for many of these schemes even though they are freelancers or lone traders. For the benefit of the Minister I will elaborate further. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic a person who played music in the pubs and clubs in Temple Bar would have been paid €130 for two hours work. A person lucky enough to get a gig in Temple Bar now would be offered €30 for two hours work. This is not viable. People in this sector have also had their payments cut. What are they to do now? How do we help them?

People involved in organising live music events and so on and who, like taxi drivers, have ongoing costs in terms of insurance, equipment storage and repayments on loans for equipment they purchased, also have no income. Even if there is some recovery, and there is no likelihood that any time in the near future there will be a significant recovery, those costs continue for them. Many of the supports that are being designed are not available to them, but many of them are having their payments cut. Those are two particular groups I wanted to speak up for.

Specifically on the Bill, yesterday I had a conversation with a person who owns a business that is the definition of a business that is supposed to be covered by this Bill. The company makes sofas and it has eight employees, which is just below the threshold of nine required. This business is being told that it does not meet the eligibility criteria to access these loans and it is also concerned about taking on extra debt in terms of interest and so on. We need a scheme which works with microenterprises, taking account of the particular difficulties they are facing and tailoring the supports in that direction rather than rigid criteria, excessive interest rates and a debt burden that will result in the supports not being sustainable for those particular businesses.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his forbearance.

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