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

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, on his appointment to his new portfolio. I wish him and his Cabinet colleagues well on the job ahead. They will face many challenges that are not new to us; we have experienced them in the recent past. However, there is a difference. The current situation was unexpected and without warning. We had no control over the tsunami that came ashore and washed everything before it. It remains a serious threat.

The microenterprise sector is of great importance because it affects every town, village and district in the country. The Bill offers a great opportunity to take a microscopic look at the way businesses, particularly small businesses, are operating and the challenges they face. Many small businesses are still recovering from the economic crash and will continue to feel its effects for some time to come. That is why the emergence of the virus has been particularly unfortunate and untimely.

Local enterprise offices,are to be complimented on the way they do business. They are on the ground with those most directly affected by the pandemic and who require the assistance that is likely to be made available to them through this legislation. The LEOs are in a very good position to be able to assess the effect and efficacy of legislation and the loans that will be provided under it. It is one thing to look at things from a distance, but the LEOs are in a totally different situation because their staff are well equipped with the knowledge and expertise to make a determination on how the scheme is working, whether it is meeting requirements and any deficiencies it may have. That is one of the things that will need to be carefully considered. The Bill may be perfect, but if it is not and snags arise, they must be dealt with as soon as they become obvious, rather than that being postponed until some later stage.

Nobody knows better than small businesses themselves how things work and what is needed at a particular time. There has been much debate on the preference for grants over loans. However, a well targeted loan can be as effective as a grant, so long as it is not too costly or burdensome or subject to excessive penalties and so on. I hope it will be recognised that we are still suffering the fallout of the economic crash and that some companies, including some small businesses, are still being impacted by the domino effect of that era. I hope the Minister will keep that in mind as this loan fund is progressed. Its success will be determined by its uptake. It is to be hoped that it will be taken up completely. That will be the acid test. If it is attractive, viable and valuable, those who are working on the ground in the community will access the credit as quickly as possible.

Reference has been made to the interest rate that will be charged. It is worth bearing in mind that Covid has affected all of Europe, although some parts have been more severely affected than others. Not every country has comparable interest rates. That is a disadvantage about which I have spoken previously in the House, as have many other Deputies. I am not sure whether it is the answer to this issue, but one thing that is certain is that as a member of the European Union and the eurozone, Ireland is as entitled as any other member state to any concession that can be gleaned. There are plenty of excuses in the context of why that should not be the case, but the fact is that we are supposed to have a level playing pitch in the Single Market and enjoy the same access as other countries. We need equal access on these matters and the degree to which we can avail of them.

At the height of the economic crisis, confidence was lacking across Europe. A pivotal governor of the European Central Bank was asked for how long the supports would continue. He famously responded that they would continue for as long as it took. That is one of the lessons we learned. We need to take that approach now and ensure that confidence remains strong among the small business sector because any interruption of confidence could have serious and widespread consequences.

Simplification is important. Various Deputies referred to the importance of accessibility. That does not mean that people should borrow on the basis that they do not have to repay the loan. Everything must be paid back. We must recognise that nothing comes for free. A borrower who knows of opportunities of which he or she can avail should have no hesitation in borrowing for that purpose. The important thing is that the finance is available. If the scheme is too laborious, difficult or time-consuming, or involves such an amount of administration that the returns do not compensate for the effort made - I know that will not be the case initially, but it may occur in the future - it will be necessary to realise and recognise that we live in rapidly changing times. In changing times, one must be competitive in an increasingly competitive marketplace. By that, I mean that it is essential that whatever is available across Europe, and particularly in the eurozone, be made equally accessible to businesses here in a way that is likely to have the maximum positive impact on those businesses.

When we review the progress of the scheme, as we may have to do, it may be necessary to intervene, monitor its progress and try to ensure that its benefits are made equally available. Several Deputies made reference to rural Ireland being denied a fair chance. I hope that is not the case. I do not believe it is. Rather, the assistance is equally available, as it should be. There should be no difference whatsoever in the benefit to companies in different parts of the country. The scheme is more likely to have a positive impact on the smaller village, town and parish businesses that are dotted all over the country than any other legislation with which the House has dealt in recent times.

I wish to mention the part being played by the banks, whether that be positive or negative. I said some very harsh things about various lending institutions in the past. I hope I do not have to repeat them. When one has been a Member of the Oireachtas for a long time, one tends to see things repeat themselves. One says the same things about the same issues one addressed several years previously. I hope that is not the case in this instance. We have an opportunity to make a quick and positive injection at the right time and in the right place.

We must be conscious that this country recovered fairly quickly from the economic crash. I am not certain that will be the case in this situation because we do not know for how long this tsunami will go on. It may still be negatively affecting the economic development of our country in two or three years' time. As such, we need to realise the difference between the economic and other impacts of the virus and what happened in the crash.

We recovered from it relatively quickly. We need to be mindful that in this particular case, our people have nowhere to go. There was always a possibility of emigration in the previous era. That was not a good thing and not one we want to go back to again but it was a possibility. It is not possible any more and nor will it be because the virus is everywhere. One only has to look at the United States at present to see the havoc that has been wrought on that country. It is a big country with powerful resources and the virus continues to ravage it with an obvious impact. As well as that, it undermines public confidence in the ability of the system to withstand the shock. People are still thinking of a second wave and what that might do.

We all support this fund for the microenterprise sector. It is timely to say that again. I do not intend to go on for the full 20 minutes, the Acting Chairman will be glad to know, but I could do so if he wants.

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