Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, and myself would like to thank Deputies for their attendance, participation and support as we have taken this Bill through the Dáil over the past two days. I am conscious that the logistics were a little awkward between the two Houses. I recognise the efforts of Members to make their contributions and we value all of them. It has been a long debate over the past two days but I hope we all agree that it has been useful and will lead to necessary additional supports being put in place as a matter of urgency for microenterprises as they work to recover from the economic impacts of the Covid-19 health crisis.

It is appropriate that this first Bill of the Thirty-third Dáil is supporting those very small businesses across Ireland that are the lifeblood of our economy. All Members referred in their contributions to the importance of recognising the microenterprises and SMEs in that sector throughout the country, both urban and rural, which have a major impact on all our lives but certainly when it comes to job creation, the movement of money and the supply of services.

It is also historic, as this is the first Bill being debated and voted on outside Leinster House since the foundation of the State. As we are now showing our resilience as parliamentarians to react to the new normal, we hope the measures included in the Bill will help those very small businesses as they show their resilience in doing the same.

I reiterate my thanks to those Deputies and the various spokespersons who have been pragmatic and practical in their interventions and who laid out their ideas for further measures and actions, which the Government will consider as part of the July stimulus and the October economic package. In his opening remarks last night, the Tánaiste asked that Deputies would use the time on this Bill to include some of their ideas. I am conscious that many have done that and have put forward the ideas of their various parties. I thank them for their efforts in that regard.

I thank Deputy Louise O'Reilly for her agreement in regard to the amendment that we can move on to discuss it and try to get the best outcome. I believe everyone is committed to supporting businesses and that will be our aim during the next couple of weeks of debate both in this House and in the Upper House as we bring forward the July stimulus and, in the long term, the economic strategy we hope to bring forward in October, which is about the long-term survival and thriving of those businesses across many sectors. A major focus of all of us will be the retail sector as we respond to the new normal. I thank the Acting Chairman and the Deputies for their time.

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