Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. Sinn Féin recently carried out a household survey and 94% of those who responded were concerned about their household income this year. A survey from last year showed that one in eight Irish parents goes into debt for Christmas, something that will be much worse this year because of the Covid-19 crisis. A financial broker quoted in the Irish Independent said that banks are not lending to those on the EWSS or PUP and are reluctant to lend to people who work for companies that have availed of the EWSS. The banks are not lending which means that people who are struggling to get finance are being driven into the hands of moneylenders. I ask the Minister to provide more details on what he intends to do about this in conjunction with the credit unions and post offices.

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