Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Like many other Teachtaí Dála, I have spoken to many business owners during the months of lockdown. Many people were ringing us, trying to figure out what was going on and what supports were available for businesses to be able to reopen and stay in business. Many of those business owners have shown that they have a strong social conscience. I will give a couple of examples. I was a part of the community effort in Dublin 15 through my local GAA club, St. Peregrine's. We started up a Sunday dinner for senior citizens in our community because the similar Fingal County Council initiative only ran from Monday to Friday. It was a way of helping out on Sundays. We were delivering more than 110 dinners every Sunday on a completely voluntary basis. We could not have done that without local businesses. Those businesses were struggling but gave us the support to enable us to carry out that wonderful project during the lockdown.

It is important to note that, when we talk about microenterprise businesses, we are talking about carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, café and corner shop owners. Those are very small businesses. Their owners do not have the time, and some may not have the expertise, to fill out forms and apply for grants, unlike bigger businesses that may have somebody specifically designated to fill out those forms. It is important, therefore, that we make the process as simple, clear and transparent as possible to enable these businesses to restart or stay in business.

One of the biggest concerns that people have, particularly those in shops, is about rates and how they will be supported. I know that such business owners have been supported in recent months but they are concerned about the future, particularly café owners who are worried about their capacity to allow the same number of people into their businesses that they once did. That is now completely gone. Café owners are talking about maybe 40% of the capacity that they had previously, which is not sustainable with the current level of costs. It is important that we keep this process as simple as we possibly can. We must ensure the funding gets to those who need it as quickly as possible.

Many business owners have been saying they have loans already. Some have borrowed to open their businesses, others to enable them to upskill their businesses. They are worried about taking out more loans, the level of interest they will have to pay, how they will repay those loans on top of the business loans they already have and how they will manage that. They are concerned about taking on additional debt. Some business owners are saying they would rather not take on additional debt but would instead close their businesses and see what is going to happen because of the fear that they may be left with large bills.

The small business community is the most ingenious group of people and I commend them. During the lockdown and the emergence into the period we are now in, I know a couple of businesses that were innovative. One bus owner took out all of the seats in his bus and started to work for the courier company DPD. The individual in question is now looking to establish another business for the Christmas market and is wondering how he will support it. I commend Fingal County Council on supporting that business. I also know of a gym owner whose business was closed during the lockdown. He started renting out equipment and is now looking to establish a sideline business renting out gym equipment. Small business owners are ingenious and want to ensure they stay in business. They try to diversify when they can but their existing businesses are struggling. It is important that we give them support now and make this process easy, clear and transparent. The House should support the Sinn Féin amendment.

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