Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to say at the outset that I, as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and the Government understand that businesses have endured some really difficult years with Brexit, the restrictions related to the pandemic and now, of course, inflation particularly when it comes to energy costs.

I think it is fair to say that this Government has not been found wanting when it has come to helping businesses get through difficult periods, whether it was the wage subsidy scheme to help businesses to keep their staff on; the Covid restrictions support scheme, which helped with overheads; the new small company administrative rescue process arrangement that allows businesses to restructure if they become burdened by debts and survive; and the reduction in VAT for the hospitality sector. While many businesses are struggling, I think it is fair to point out that most are doing well. That is evidenced by the fact that there are 2.5 million people at work in Ireland currently, more than two thirds of whom work for small businesses in the SME sector. We see the tax receipts coming in from VAT and company profits. There have been very few insolvencies in the last year or two, although I think that figure is likely to rise. While every business is different and some have very high energy bills, the average business spends between 5% and 10% of its outgoing on energy costs.

We are working on some schemes that may be helpful for businesses. I do not want to raise expectations too high. We are not going to be able to step in and pay the electricity and gas bills of every business across the country, or even many businesses across the country. Under the EU state aid framework, we have submitted proposals for an inflation crisis-related loan scheme for businesses, which will be similar to those in place for Brexit and Covid currently, and potentially a grant scheme for businesses that face viability issues as a consequence of energy prices. That would be restricted, under the terms of state aid, to businesses that are in manufacturing and exporting and would not apply to retail.

One of the areas where we are already helping, and where we can help more, is in helping businesses to reduce the amount of energy they use and to make energy savings. I looked at it recently and there are actually 20 different schemes that businesses can apply to to get help from Government to carry out an energy audit and to get capital grants for the installation of equipment such as solar panels and insulation and for micro-generation. That is really important because it might be the case that we are not just experiencing an energy price shock. It could be an energy price shift. While energy prices might fall back, they might remain at a high level permanently. The best response to that is a long-term one, reducing the amount of energy we use and increasing the amount of renewable energy and micro-generation that we produce. That is an area where the Government already has 20 schemes in place to help businesses. I want businesses to become more aware of those schemes. I also want to improve them.

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