James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill, which provides the legislative basis to enable the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland to implement the Brexit impact loan scheme. The scheme will be essential for those SMEs, including those engaged in farming and fishing, that have been impacted badly by the effects of Brexit. It is expected that loans under the scheme will range from €25,000 to €1.5 million and will be available for liquidity for investment purposes, as well as for refinancing specific forms of existing debt.

The scheme will provide an 80% guarantee to participating lenders on loans to Brexit-impacted businesses. The new scheme, which will be administered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, will make up to €330 million in lending available to help businesses continuing to respond to Brexit.

One of the consequences of the Covid pandemic is that it has masked the effects of Brexit. As yet, we do not fully understand the impact it has had versus the impact of the virus. Businesses will continue to need additional supports to help them as the Brexit situation evolves and with the pandemic. Access to finance is a critical issue. The scheme will deliver important support to farmers, fishers, food businesses and businesses generally as we seek to ensure that their ongoing viability will not be hindered by a lack of suitable finance. It is essential that such access to credit is made available to as many people as possible.

A particular area we need to look at to assist these businesses with credit is expanding the importance of the credit union sector in the Republic of Ireland. It is something many other EU countries are able to do but we have not mastered it quite yet. As other Deputies have said, access to credit is becoming an increasingly important issue in rural Ireland, as many people are losing their community banking facilities. We need to start to look at the whole issue of banking in general and, in addition to European schemes through which funding can be drawn down, also assist credit unions. This is of critical importance and is something we very much need to look at as a Government. It is something that is repeatedly being raised by people with whom I am engaging.

I have come into politics from a farming background. I grew up on a dairy farm in east Cork. There were extreme concerns about the full effect of Brexit. There is a lot of nervousness within the agrifood sector. Once we get through the Covid-19 pandemic and many of the supports have to be put aside it is very important that there will be a full commitment from the Government to ensure farmers get every support they require, including in constituencies such as Cork East, where tens of thousands of people are either directly employed or supported by the employment of people working in agrifood, which is one of the sectors most heavily hit by Brexit.

Cork East is the home of cheddar production in the Republic of Ireland. My understanding is that the vast majority of cheddar cheese produced here is exported to the United Kingdom. That gives an insight into how this issue is specific to my constituency and why we need to continue to see mechanisms, such as this one, to support these sectors. In particular, we need grassroots supports, as well as supports for larger business, for people working in food production in the Republic of Ireland.

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