Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It will come as no surprise that Sinn Féin welcomes any opportunity for investment for small businesses, and particularly for those in our farming community, who as one would expect, are going through a period of quite considerable anxiety. They face plenty of challenges over the months and years ahead with the new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and climate action developments. All these things are going to put increased pressures on them and any opportunity for investment or a line of credit, as this Bill will facilitate, will be quite welcome.

Of course, farmers will be asking themselves individually whether this will benefit their farm and ensure they have access to funds. They will be asking whether the Government is delivering the funds in a way that can help them best produce the food that not only feeds their own nation but also many across the world. Quite clearly, some will be able to draw down the funding this Bill will facilitate but it will not meet demand.

We have seen from the Revised Estimates from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine that funding to the SBCI has actually halved this year. That paints a very clear picture in terms of the volume of credit that will be delivered to farmers. This will be compounded in the manner in which this funding can be made available. As Deputy O'Reilly noted, many schemes have a far higher rate than others. It seems that rather than being tailored to the specific needs of individual sectors for particular circumstances, the SBCI has a habit of simply rebranding schemes whereby a Brexit loan becomes a Covid loan, which becomes a Brexit loan again, with largely similar loan requirements. If, therefore, a loan is ineffective for one purpose, it is hardly going to become more effective simply by giving it a different name.

That raises questions as to the level of engagement the Department has had with stakeholders on an ongoing basis as to their actual needs. That is why it is really important that Government parties take Deputy O’Reilly's amendment seriously, and accept the amendments that would create an obligation on both Departments to engage with stakeholders from both the SME and agriculture sectors.

It is worth noting that when appearing before the Committee of Public Accounts in March, the SBCI highlighted seven schemes representative of the loans and services it offers, varying in focus from Covid to Brexit to agriculture. The single scheme referred to by the SBCI that was fully subscribed was the agriculture cash flow support loan scheme. That speaks for itself. Farmers will be incredibly disappointed to see the new Brexit impact loan scheme standing at €330 million. Following the appearance of the SBCI at the Committee of Public Accounts, farmers were left with the impression that there was a new €330 million agricultural scheme coming down the line as reported in the agriculture sector media. It would be invaluable if the Government will clarify that this is what the SBCI was referring to at the time or if we should expect a separate dedicated agriculture loan scheme to emerge later this year. The latter would be the most appropriate.

Funding not drawn down from the SBCI should be reallocated to schemes where funding is eagerly awaited, whether in the SME or farming sectors. There needs to be that flexibility as we move forward. The agriculture cash flow scheme has been incredibly popular and has worked. It only had a third of the balance loaned out waiting repayment as of March. That is a clear indication that there is a need for it and that the farmers were clearly a solid investment in terms of returns. The opportunities are there and it needs to work.

As Deputy O'Reilly said, we will support the Bill. However, it needs to be operated on the basis that it will be continually reviewed. The Sinn Féin amendment tabled by Deputy O'Reilly deserves consideration. I would urge the Government to back it. There is nothing to fear by having an obligation to engage with those at the coalface delivering for our domestic economy, whether that is SMEs or the members of our farming community.

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