Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will make sure to wrap it up. If I run over time, I ask the Ceann Comhairle to tell me to finish up. I will make a couple of comments. I welcome all the contributions made last night and to date on this Bill and the support for what we are trying to achieve.

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae certainly got that message across.

The Bill seeks to support businesses through a very difficult time. By doing so, we support the jobs they create. By supporting those jobs, we support the families involved. There is a connection in that regard that is often missed in debates on supporting businesses or setting up a pro-business or pro-enterprise environment in this country. It is really important we support businesses where we can because they are the ones creating the jobs and taking the risks and the ones that could, as was said, decide to stay at home if they wanted to do so and not contribute. We are lucky to have so many businesses, many of which are SMEs. There are a few hundred thousand SMEs creating over 1 million jobs throughout the country. We are very lucky as a country to have 2.5 million people at work at a very difficult time right across the world. It is something I will never take for granted, nor does the Tánaiste, the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, or the rest of our Department. We are constantly trying to see how we can assist to drive the agenda of being pro-enterprise and pro-business and supporting businesses. It is important we do that to help support those jobs. It is just as important, as Deputy O'Reilly said yesterday, that they are good-quality jobs with good conditions and that the welfare of workers is looked after. The majority of business owners do their best to look after their staff and want to do so. There will always be a few we have to try to deal with, but the majority have their members' and their workers' interests at heart, and we need to allow for that and work on that.

This initiative is about supporting businesses and jobs. I recognise that the majority here spoke in favour of the Bill. Many other issues outside the extent of the Bill were raised. I will not go into the issues of fishing, farming and so on because I wish to focus my time on the Bill and what it is about, which is supporting businesses. I recognise that the majority of contributors would say that many businesses do not want to borrow and do not want to be in that position. We recognise that but, exactly as Deputy Michael Healy-Rae said, in some situations they have to borrow. When that happens, certainly in times of crisis, and we had similar discussions here during Covid and Brexit, those businesses have to look at a combination of Government assistance through grants and supports, their own cash reserves they have built up, if they are lucky enough to have done so, and borrowing, if need be, to get through difficult periods in the running of their businesses. We are in that situation yet again. This credit guarantee is about making it cheaper to borrow that money and to de-risk it in order that those who are making the decisions will be more sympathetic to the businesses and take an approach that seeks more to give out the loans. The State is guaranteeing this up to 80%, which reduces the need for the bank to be overly concerned. Businesses will still need a proper credit rating - there is no doubt about that - but it is a matter of giving a chance to those businesses that are viable but need to get through a difficult time. That is what we are trying to achieve here. We recognise that the majority support this. We also recognise that this is not just about borrowing but that it will reduce the cost of borrowing and make it easier to access.

As the Minister of State with responsibility for retail in this Department, I am glad we are bringing this Bill through. It was part of the response in the budget that we said we would bring it forward. It is an initiative that has worked extremely well on other occasions, including during Covid and Brexit. It came first as a tool in the box back in 2012 or 2013. That was a little late for the financial crisis but at that time would have been a great support to businesses. I am glad it is an initiative we now have on our books that we can adjust and change, as we are doing here, at different times.

Certain speakers gave the impression that small businesses cannot avail of this scheme or that it is for somebody else. To be absolutely clear, 7,566 of the 9,800 loans were made to microbusinesses. I am sorry the Deputy who raised this, a man from Tipperary, is not here. It suits him not to be here for the facts. While he is entitled to his opinion, he is certainly not entitled to his own facts. The facts are the facts. Those 7,566 micro-enterprises benefited from this scheme to the tune of just under €1 billion. The scheme is targeted at those small businesses that need such assistance during difficult times. I encourage business owners to take the chance now to avail of schemes like this one when it is up and running in a few weeks' time and to see if this is an appropriate time to borrow money at low cost over a long number of years to get them through a difficult time. It is a time to financially assess one's business. While businesses may not want to borrow, it might make sense financially to do so now and to avail of these credit guarantees when they are in place because they will not be there for ever. This one is due to end at the end of 2023 under the current EU framework, so it is an appropriate time for businesses to look at their situation, to make an assessment and to avail of these schemes if they think it will help their businesses.

The scheme is similar to its predecessor, the Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme, the success of which I will outline. The design of the scheme meets the European Commission's temporary crisis framework requirements. It is a good opportunity for businesses in Ireland to gain strong levels of State support without any state aid implications. It is hoped the scheme will be opened before Christmas with some of the banks. Across the board there has been an open call for all lenders to avail of it, similar to the previous schemes with credit unions. Non-traditional lenders got involved in that as well. That will probably happen in the new year, so that should be widely available. The lending institutes have been encouraged to use this scheme, backed by the State, to make money available. That is what we are trying to do here.

It is important to mention that Microfinance Ireland is involved in making loans available to small businesses and the startups for microbusinesses. Very successfully, through legislation supported in this House, it has increased its ability to loan or reach more businesses and has done so during difficult times like Covid and Brexit and is in a position to do so again. Generally, it makes loans of €10,000 up to a maximum, I think, of €50,000, but the majority will be around the €25,000 mark.

The main feature of this scheme is that it is a scheme for SMEs, primary producers or small mid-caps of up to 500 employees. Previously, only about five would be mid-caps in that category, so it is generally SMEs. They are the ones we expect to be the main beneficiaries. Loans must be new loans and will be available to viable but vulnerable businesses which have been impacted by cost increases arising from Russia's aggression in Ukraine. What is the cost increase businesses have to be able to show to qualify for the scheme? The borrowers will have to declare that costs have increased by a minimum of 10% on their 2020 figures and that the loan is being sought specifically as a result of difficulties being experienced due to the crisis. In reality, that will not be difficult for businesses to demonstrate because the majority of businesses are under pressure.

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