Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is a technical Bill which does exactly what it says on the tin. It gives the relevant Ministers power to enter into agreements with the SBCI to implement loan guarantee schemes. The reason for the Bill's introduction is to enable the Government to deliver the Brexit impact loan scheme. The cost to the Exchequer of the Brexit scheme will be a maximum of €29 million with up to €500 million in low-cost finance being made available to viable micro-SMEs and mid-cap enterprises. It aims to assist them to adapt their businesses to the challenges caused by Brexit.

We have one amendment from Deputy O'Reilly, which aims to get the Minister to engage with the relevant stakeholders and groups regarding favourable interest rates from moneys loaned under the Act, which is fine. The Labour Party will support both the Bill and the amendment.

I want to raise some concerns about the Bill, related schemes and the other existing schemes, which are not enough. There are businesses falling through the cracks. Many small businesses were hit by Brexit and then suffered the double whammy of being smashed by the pandemic. However, they do not qualify for support from any of the current Government schemes and are not suitable or will not qualify for this one either. My concern is that too many of these businesses, particularly micro businesses, will be thrown to the wolves as they fall outside the different schemes being rolled out.

I want to use the example of a small Irish service business connected to tourism but not a tour operator, whose owner was in touch with me yesterday. His business is headquartered and pays tax in Ireland. He had turnover of over €2 million at its height, mostly services exports, and has a good chance of a return to that when he can resume. Due to the nature of the business, he took a serious hit and was preparing for restructuring due to the threat of a hard Brexit. Then the pandemic hit and his business was eliminated almost overnight. He employs dozens of people directly and a similar number indirectly. The core of the business is in Ireland but his service is dependent on travel. As soon as recreational travel returns, the business will be able to recover and expand. However, it has been savagely hit by the lack of income and the standing costs it has had to support over the past year.

He feels the State is offering him next to nothing, however. He got rate support for which he is grateful. He applied for the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, but got nothing. When he applied for the Fáilte Ireland scheme, he was told by the Department he would get nothing. Under the terms and conditions of the loan scheme enabled by this Bill, he will also get nothing. If we do not support businesses like his and he is forced to close or is constrained in recovery, there is no guarantee that the business will be replaced by another Irish headquartered entity. The danger is we lose jobs, tax and revenue for lack of vision and flexibility in our supports structure.

I put down a parliamentary question to the Minister on behalf of businesses like this. Hopefully, I am wrong and there is some scheme they can avail of which will help. Otherwise, viable firms like this could go to the wall. Small, medium and micro enterprises provide 70% of enterprise jobs. While we support this scheme and the Bill, it is important to remember at whom it is aimed. The Minister of State should make funds available for those firms which do not qualify for other schemes. No company should fold due to Brexit or the pandemic when there is a reasonable chance for them to regroup and rebuild their enterprises. It would be far cheaper to save existing jobs than to spend to regain others.

I welcome positive engagement from the Minister of State on the constituent's business to which I referred. Hopefully, there will be a scheme available which will be helpful for similar businesses.

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