Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Tánaiste well in his new role. I hope he gets down and dirty and understands business. As Deputy Collins has said, it is not all about the capital city, spin, Facebook and all the other platforms that the Tánaiste likes. Earlier I criticised the €20 million increase in spending for the Department of the Taoiseach, much of which is going on spin doctors to tell us what we already know. We are not fools in the country and we understand plain English. We did not need the former Taoiseach and his quotes from this and that writer or actor to tell us what we should do. It is patronising and insulting to the people in the country.

The purpose of the Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2020 is to increase the maximum amount that the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation may grant to Microfinance Ireland and extend the powers of that body, which is very welcome. It would also increase the maximum aggregate amount of borrowings to Microfinance Ireland and amend the European Investment Fund Agreement Act 2018 to increase the maximum aggregate liability in respect of contributions committed by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, as well as the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. These are very important actions.

The Taoiseach asked if we could give him ideas and we in the Rural Independent Group can give him plenty. We represent rural counties. I wish the Minister of State well in his new role and thank him for his engagement when he was a Minister of State dealing with housing matters.

We have seen great success already in Tipperary because of Microfinance Ireland. Loans are granted for working capital, which is vital to any small business, and start-up businesses in particular. They are also used for the fit-out of premises and purchasing of equipment, which is a major concern because of the cost of purchasing equipment and the standards that must be adhered to. Finance can also be used for information and communications technology, and this is one aspect where the Tánaiste knows what he is talking about. It is what he loves. Finance can also be used for promoting and marketing, and we could throw that aspect in for him as well as he might be good at it. It did not bring the benefits he expected in the election.

I will speak about my own county of Tipperary. Since 2012, there were 234 applicants to Microfinance Ireland funding, with 105 being successful and accounting for €1.29 million in funding for Tipperary businesses. Tipperary has the sixth highest number of successful applicants across the country behind Dublin, Cork, the Minister of State's own county of Meath, Galway and Limerick. I am proud of that and we have good support and business acumen. We are talking about small and microbusinesses.

The local enterprise offices, LEOs, are Microfinance Ireland's main referral partners. These LEOs should not be confused with the Tánaiste, who has just left the Chamber. There is an approval rate of 51% of applicants coming from LEOs, and these offices support applicants with relevant business training both before and after the application stage. The mentoring and assistance is very important.

I pay tribute to the office in Tipperary, including Mr. Anthony Fitzgerald, Ms Ita Horan, Mr. Michael Begley and Ms Mary Ryan, as well as the entire team at the Tipperary local enterprise office for the fantastic work they are doing to support businesses. This support is essential now more than ever as we face a very difficult period and uncertain future. Increased supports from Microfinance Ireland are very important and enterprise offices are essential in helping our businesses. They are standing ready and they are dealing with numerous calls.

There have been 2,403 loans approved, and of these, 1,304 were for start-up businesses. We must nurture and support such operations. Ní neart go chur le chéile. Is tús maith leath na hoibre gach lá. I support start-ups, which are extremely important, but existing businesses must also have strong supports in recovering during this very difficult period.

I addressed a point in the earlier debate on the Revised Estimate. The Taoiseach used the spin machine to indicate there would be a rates holiday, but my county, along with others, are compelled to send out the demand for rates for July onwards. It should not have been called a holiday but that was the title put on it by the Government. Not a red cent or shilling has gone to the coffers of Tipperary County Council to offset that initiative. It is a typical example of spin.

There is a major problem with standing charges and the Government should tackle it. There are 102 commissions, reports and bodies to be set up in this programme for Government. The Government loves these quangos as they are jobs for the boys and girls who can kick the can down the road. The Government does not deal with the ever-increasing charges forced on people. In reality, people are being robbed. Imagine that a hotel in Tipperary pays €30,000 in standing charges now but it is closed, dúnta, with nothing on except the lights on the reception. We have regulators for this, that and the other, and as I have said countless times, they are useless, toothless and fruitless. They have jobs for the boys. Money is being taken from people with no businesses. They are being forced to close but they have to pay these, what I call, cowboys. They provide no services. People are at the beck and call of utility companies, which can charge what they like. If people do not pay, they are switched off.

Insurance has been referred to by previous Deputies and it is a scandal the way insurance companies are blackguarding people. The former Taoiseach is partly guilty in this respect. We had meetings in Government Buildings when the crisis arose and I challenged the then Taoiseach on the refusal by insurance companies to pay out or even engage with customers about supports for businesses that closed because of the arrival of this so-called pandemic. The former Taoiseach said insurance companies are in the business of making money and operate on the basis that they pay out to one customer in ten. They have had enough good years and are making millions of euro in profit from the Irish people who are sweating blood. They must be held accountable.

There is a lack of finance from banks, which are dúnta. The doors might be open in some of them but the operations are not working. I have people ringing from all around the country, and particularly Tipperary, who had loan approvals and mortgages to build houses. We are talking about kick-starting the housing industry. These people have incomes. I know one couple where the mother of two children is a civil servant and her work has been unaffected, thankfully. The husband is a farmer but the bank will not give the loan to build a house. That is pure blackguarding and the banks are effectively closed.

Deputy Shanahan stated earlier that there has been a bailout for banks and it is now time to bail out the people who bailed out the banks. Their children and grandchildren will be bailing out banks for decades to come. The local authorities are penniless because of the rates holiday and there is nobody to back them up. They expected to get money from the Government but they have not got a penny.

We must also consider the arts sector, including country and Irish music. This includes people like sound engineers and promoters.

All of that suddenly stopped. They must be supported. They are one of the sources of entertainment and solace for people who go out to a céilí or country music dance. I always mention Big Tom, Lord have mercy on him, and I refer to his song, "Four Country Roads". These people operate on the four country roads. They have had the rug pulled from under them. They have huge equipment, insurance and transport costs.

As I said, the man with the van - the salesman on the road - does not pay rates so he is not getting any support. He cannot even apply for support. Deputy Boyd Barrett mentioned the taxi and hackney drivers. I refer to the people running the small community private crèches, and all the shopkeepers. The pubs are being blackguarded because of the distasteful carry-on the other night in Dame Street, here in Dublin. The vast majority of publicans in Tipperary are respectable. The previous Government tried to close them down, which the Minister of State, Deputy English, supported. They want to be allowed to open but now they are to be punished, according to our new Taoiseach, who drives from the country to come to Dublin and should know a bit more about it. He said he might not allow them open on 20 July because of the behaviour of people in Dublin. We are suffering in rural Ireland because of Dublin. We get the crumbs all the time. We get nothing other than the problems. When the Government wants to send down people to us that we do not want or introduce legislation, no impact analysis is done of its effect on us. We do not want that kind of blackguarding. I can give a guarantee, as can Deputy Michael Collins, that the vast majority of publicans in Tipperary, west Cork and everywhere else run their pubs correctly.

I was delighted to see the bar was open here this evening for food. I thank the staff here for the way they have managed our movement around the building in an orderly and careful fashion. We do not want to be punished because of what was done by people here in Dublin. We are seeing the different parties that are here. We are seeing the people on the Black Lives Matter marches give two fingers to all the health advice. With this new brand of neoliberalism, they can do what they like and to hell with the rest of us. "Let croppies lie down" is their attitude now; they are in charge. They can do what they want.

We need to increase the proportion of IDA Ireland supports given to the regions. We get nothing in Tipperary. We have had some good foreign direct investment in the past 50 years in terms of Merck Sharp & Dohme, Boston Scientific and Abbott in Clonmel, and we are delighted to have that. I want to support the regime but we need to deliver more resources to the country because we have seen it in Tipperary. The county has the fifth highest take-up of Microfinance Ireland funding since 2012. We are willing to do it. We want to be unshackled. The Government should take off the baggage and the red tape. We need schemes that are operating but we need cashflow right now. The Government will not deal with the banks. It failed spectacularly to deal with them in the past nine years because it is in hock to them. I do not know what it is but it is fazed and intimidated by them. The banks will not lend and they give two fingers to everybody else. We also need to get more support into Enterprise Ireland and also to the local employment offices in Tipperary.

Big businesses come and go. The small business owners are the backbone of any village, town or county, from Carrick-on-Suir through Clonmel, Cahir, Cashel, Tipperary, Nenagh, Thurles and up to Moneygall. They are businesspeople. They employ three, four or five people. They endure sleepless nights trying to ensure they have the workforce to meet their needs. I will conclude to allow the Minister of State time to answer some of the questions asked by Deputy Collins.

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