Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will speak on this section. I thank the Minister of State for the time he and his officials gave us beforehand. It helped to clarify some matters. I will say again, however, that although this Bill is extremely short with only 12 sections, the three schedules attached to it pose a great difficulty. It brings into acute focus the democratic deficit that has arisen in the European Union. We are really back to a patriarchal situation in which we are told this is good for us but are given very little time to discuss it. The Minister of State will agree with that. I realise that there is a pandemic under way and that this presents difficulties but we have had a number of months. We have not had a chance to tease out this at committee level. This Bill is approximately 140 pages long and, despite my own background, I found it extremely difficult to read. On occasions the English is not intelligible. It has been obviously translated from various instruments in Europe. It does not make for easy reading. I now have to depend on the word of Government, in which I have little trust, that this is very good for us. On the positive side, Europe is finally acting in unison, though belatedly, as best it can to allow us to access funding.

I will refer to this particular scheme, which is operated through the European Investment Bank, EIB. I understand from reading the Bill and from the clarification just before the break that we are in this for a commitment of up to €167.5 million. That will be our liability as set out in the legislation. It is capped at that. That is part of a fund of €25 billion which will allow the EIB to leverage up to €200 billion, which all of the countries may then apply to access. The criteria for applications for moneys are not yet clear. The Minister of State has pointed out that this money will then come through the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, which is just a medium through which it will be accessed by the other banks. As guarantees are being given all around, including that in respect of the €167 million, I presume there is a guarantee that any bank which is given the privilege of loaning to the SMEs and other entities will make no profit on that loan and will simply make back its administrative costs, given that the money will be borrowed at zero or negative interest. That is my first question.

To move to my second question, I understand that health entities can benefit from this scheme. Will the Minister of State clarify this in simple English? All Deputies are inundated with calls from people whose loved ones have senile dementia or disabilities and who are not able to access day centres because they are closed. There are myriad examples; I will not go into them. Will the Health Service Executive be able to benefit from a loan at an interest rate of 0% to enable these entities to open? Am I reading the legislation incorrectly? I am reading it as best I can.

What oversight will the Dáil have of this measure? At what stage will it come back before the House? Reading the Bill, it seems to be coming back after the event. If somebody defaults, our guarantee is called upon and we pay up, a report will come back to the Dáil afterwards. Will the Minister of State clarify that point?

Section 7 confers on the Minister the power to enter into a contribution agreement. At what point would such an agreement be drawn up? Will we see it? The section goes on to say that if there is an amendment to the agreement, it will come before the Dáil. Who decides that the agreement will be amended and how it will be amended? Will the Minister of State deal with those three issues for me?

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