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

There were actually 15 things in the budget last week that helped businesses. The biggest element was up to €10,000 a month to help small businesses with their energy costs. That will be backdated to September and businesses will receive that money by November. It is true that we have seen an increase in business failures around the country over the past few weeks. I have seen it in my constituency and in this city. I have also heard from Senator Ahearn about businesses closing in Clonmel. That is really sad because a family business failing is almost like a death in the family. People put their heart and soul and lives into their business. When it fails, it is very sad.

We also need to be honest with people. Sometimes businesses are not viable. Many businesses only got through the pandemic period because of the Government supports. When that ended, they tried to make a go of it and were not able to. Unfortunately, some of those businesses will close. However, we are also at a time when many businesses are doing well and they cannot get staff. We also have to bear that in mind.

See this speech in context