Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are putting €250 million out there with virtually no application process at all because small businesses, in particular very small ones, have said to me that they do not want a long detailed application process and to have to apply to the Revenue Commissioners because they do not want to have to take on an accountant to do it, as that is another cost that they cannot afford. We are taking that on board and we are saying this is a little bit like the household energy credits: businesses would automatically get it. That is the idea. They will simply have to confirm their bank account details and so on. The local authorities, of course, will have to confirm that they are in good stead with the business.

The reason insolvencies are up is that in the aftermath of Covid, where the State put a lot of financial supports in place to keep businesses in business, as we have started to unwind those financial supports, that has exposed some vulnerabilities in certain sectors. We have never had more small business activity or more employment in Ireland than we have today. Some businesses that are only paying €2,000 in rates are going to get €1,000 back. Businesses that are paying €10,000 in rates can get up to €5,000 back. We have used rates as an indicator of turnover scale, employment and so on. I think that is fair. To facilitate a bit more flexibility on the upper thresholds, we are probably going to have to adjust the scheme somewhat, while, at the same time, protecting the smaller businesses in particular to make sure that they get something significant.

We will finalise that, hopefully in the next week or so. Deputy O'Reilly is right that we need then to get a communications campaign out there to make sure every business understands what it is getting. This is not going to be the panacea to all pressures around business costs; of course, it is not.

See this speech in context