Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Just over 10% of the TBESS money was actually drawn down. I am not suggesting for a moment that it is an insignificant sum but there was a massive miscalculation on the part of the Government, either for the appetite for the scheme - I would contend that the appetite was most definitely there - or the capacity for small to medium enterprises to actually engage with the scheme. The Department returned €1.1 billion to the Exchequer. This was money that the Department negotiated, set aside and thought would be used, but then it was not used. It is welcome that the Minister has recognised the reasons for that but there is no denying that a drawdown of just over 10% is really not good enough.

Regarding the current scheme, €75 million will be taken out for the larger ratepayers. Based on the figures the Minister quoted, that leaves an average of €1,300 for the remaining business, assuming everyone gets the same amount. I appreciate that averages do not tell us everything but does the Minister anticipate that those businesses that qualify in the remainder category, that is, not the larger ratepayers, will receive around €1,300? When will the money be delivered? I know the Department is in talks about the service-level agreement and so forth but if he could give us a timeline on when the money will actually hit people's bank accounts, that would be appreciated.

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