Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----I go off at a tangent.

I do not think anyone will be against the idea of Microfinance Ireland coming under State control. I do not think anybody will have any difficulty with any streamlining. It is exactly as Deputy Quinlivan says. It is a fact, though, that we need to look at the relationship between some of these smaller enterprises and the banking and lending sector. We know the issues that arose during austerity. We need to make sure not only that we streamline the system but also that credit is actually available. It is exactly as Deputy Quinlivan said. In an awful lot of cases, capital outlay and so on is about putting moneys into a business from a point of view of expansion. We have had a number of interactions in the past while and they have not all necessarily been positive. We talk about the tech sector and the fact that 6,000 jobs have been lost. I have spoken before about the necessary Government and IDA engagement and everything that is required as regards PayPal and others. I do think there will be a need, as I have said to the Minister of State previously, to look at the tech sector as to how exactly this is impacting us and what exactly we can do about this sort of interaction. While credit access is obviously vital, we need to make sure that everybody, from the local enterprise offices, which do spectacular work, right through to Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and the IDA, is doing all that is necessary.

I think I have spoken previously about some of the spectacular work I have seen done by the regional development centre in DkIT. That is the idea of putting the correct people together from a point of view of expanding businesses and business ideas. Some of those have gone on to huge success. I am talking about the med-tech sector, the tech sector, pharmaceuticals and all the rest. That is what we have to do.

We have an issue, as has been said previously, in that we have seen a number of added costs to business. Many of them are improvements in workers' conditions that needed to happen. I know that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, had spoken previously about some highly directed supports he was looking at as regards particular businesses, particularly with regard to the hospitality sector. I would be interested to know what exactly those will look like. Deputy Quinlivan spoke about the report and the review as regards these particular changes, and on some level this is just pointing out what we already know, that is, that there are businesses that are under severe pressure. Some of them are businesses with really good operating models that have operated for years. We need to make sure we can provide those adequate and sustainable supports. I would like to think the Minister of State will address that when he comes back to answer.

I have spoken to the Minister of State about a number of particular businesses. I will not get into naming them. I am talking about what would fall into this particular bracket of people who could avail of microfinance. There is a need for certain businesses to be provided with those supports and know-how. There is a particular business I have spoken about previously that is probably constrained, and we need to look at possible solutions. Maybe they will require legislation, but I do appreciate that the Minister has said he is open to that conversation happening between his Department, the necessary agency and this particular firm in Dundalk. That is all positive.

We all know the huge issues we face. As regards another thing that has been in the public domain in the past while, I have said before that there was a time when people would have brought up the issues as regards housing - not only politicians, obviously, but also advocacy groups and the local authorities, particularly the homelessness sections. Now, however, we are in a different world, where it is an issue that impacts the IDA and all these other agencies. I think it was the US Chamber of Commerce that spoke about the particular issue of prices. That is everything from rents to house prices right through, so this is impacting our sustainability. The one thing that is operating at this point in time is the fact that there is high employment in this State. While there may be issues with low pay in particular sectors, we really need to make sure we keep the ship afloat so we can on some level deal with those particular issues that exist right across society, whether we are talking about the disability sector, education, healthcare or anything else. The problem is - it is like when we talk about the cost-of-living crisis - that everything comes back in Ireland and-----

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