Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the small business owners throughout the country who are struggling during this pandemic. Small business owners are the backbone of rural Ireland in particular. They provide badly needed employment where larger companies believe it is not feasible to do so. They need to be supported and we need to ensure they survive this crisis. It is a matter of survival at this stage because it is a crisis.

I received an email from a gentleman at 10.30 p.m. on Sunday. The time it was sent will give an idea of how stressful the situation is and how it is weighing on the minds of people. He wrote to express his frustration about the lack of support for small business. He describes himself as the director of a small business in Kildare. He says he is the administrator, accountant, purchasing manager, salesperson, engineer, order picker and delivery person. The founder of this business was let go from a multinational in recent years. He started his business in 2019 and did not take a wage initially. He invested all his spare cash into the business. Then his business fell off a cliff when the virus arrived.

He did not qualify for covid assistance because he was not taking a salary and was last employed in 2018. The Government introduced rates assistance for business but this business did not qualify for it. As a start-up business, the company was renting space from a logistics provider and did not pay rates. When the first lockdown was lifted, the director started paying himself a wage. When level 5 hit Kildare, he applied for the pandemic unemployment payment. He did not qualify because he was not fully unemployed since he was a director of the business. We need to reward our risk-takers rather than punish them. They need a lifeline and they need it fast. It is time to act now before it is too late.

Many businesses will not survive this if we do not do something.

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