Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak to this Bill. It is a relatively short technical Bill that will amend the Credit Guarantee Act 2012. These amendments will support the needs of businesses to access additional finance in response to the economic difficulties resulting from the brutal war being waged by Putin against Ukraine. It will do this by creating a specific Ukraine guarantee scheme.

Sinn Féin welcomes this Bill, which will provide a €1.2 billion State-backed scheme that will provide low-cost working capital to small and medium enterprises. The scheme will be similar to the Covid credit guarantee scheme. Businesses are often wary of taking on more debt through loans. The Government must ensure that the terms and conditions of the scheme are favourable to struggling businesses. I have spoken to business owners in the past who have been critical of previous schemes, mainly due to the red tape involved. While there must be checks and balances with taxpayers' money, applying to the scheme cannot be so onerous a task that it puts people off asking for help.

Irish businesses, especially small family businesses, are operating in a very difficult environment. Costs have risen across the board, especially the cost of energy. Businesses have tried to adapt to these changes but it is a constant battle between observing increased costs to remain competitive and keeping their heads above water. Sinn Féin is very much aware of these difficulties and has met with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Finance, in order to push the measures that would help businesses in the face of ever-increasing pressures. In our alternative budget, we proposed solutions such as the business energy support scheme and also called for a new Stated-backed credit guarantee loan scheme to help SMEs, especially those in energy-intensive sectors.

Sinn Féin stands with small business owners. In April this year, my colleague, an Teachta Doherty, brought forward measures to reduce the cost of home heating oil, petrol and diesel in response to the cost-of-living crisis. As a result, the Government was forced to act but as usual it was too little, too late. Sinn Féin has also been to the fore in seeking reform that will address the high cost of insurance premiums for business. On the subject of business supports, the temporary inflation payment scheme that assists nursing homes with energy inflation must go further. The unfair deal that is the nursing home support scheme needs to be reformed, especially for voluntary nursing homes and section 39 organisations.

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