Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. If businesses cannot access funds in the traditional way, it says something about our banking system that these companies fail to get accepted by our pillar banks and have to turn elsewhere for funding. Reading the documentation that we have received, the success rate of these companies and the small number of failures show the importance of having such funds available to companies.

They have failed to get money through the traditional sources. Only 308 companies out of 2,174 that qualified for assistance have failed. For companies like these, that is an extremely small percentage and it shows that companies with proper help can succeed. There is not an enormous amount of money involved here, but to get a leg up on the ladder can make a significant difference to these smaller companies. It just shows what can be done for companies like this.

I wish to focus on the interest rate being charged. We hear that the Government at the moment with the Covid problems is able to access money at 0.2% or 0.3% interest. However, interest of 4.5% to 5.5% is being charged under this scheme. That needs to be looked at and improved on. These companies deserve better than that. This level of interest in the modern economy is far too high and that needs to be examined.

My county, Tipperary, had 220 applicants, 102 of which were accepted, an acceptance rate of only a little over 40%. We need to look at the parameters of the scheme. Thankfully, the scheme has only a small percentage of failures, but a very high percentage of unsuccessful applicants. If we have that level of unsuccessful applicants, the parameters of the scheme need to be looked at. The ones that sourced the money showed themselves to be successful and to be able to grow and survive.

This scheme has a very important part to play. With a few minor tweaks, it could be even more successful. The ceiling of help should also be looked at. There also needs to be more flexibility in interest-free repayments and even a freeze on repayments which is needed by companies. I know there is some scope for that. All those parameters could be looked at to make the scheme more flexible. We are dealing with small companies with a limited turnover. With help, these companies could play an important part in our economic recovery post Covid. Access to capital like this was never more important for these smaller companies.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. It is definitely an initiative that has to be fully supported. As I said, I have concerns about the rate of interest being charged. With more flexibility on the terms of repayment, if that is needed by these companies, we could reduce the failure rate even further.

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