Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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19. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to enable SMEs to return to capacity in circumstances in which it is possible; and his further plans to strengthen the resilience, productivity and innovation of SMEs. [15818/20]

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Covid-19 has fundamentally changed Ireland's social and economic landscape. At the end of 2019 almost 2.3 million people were at work. Today approximately 1 million people are on some form of income support. We knew that reigniting our economy after the Covid shutdown would present significant challenges. The message from small businesses, though, is clear. They want supports. They do not want to take on additional debt. They want grants. It is important that this distinction is made. What confirmation can the Tánaiste give to the House on the plans to have SMEs reopen and get people back to work?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Devlin for raising this important question.

As Tánaiste and Minister with responsibility for enterprise, trade and employment, I am committed to playing my part to get businesses reopened and to provide grant aid, advice and access to finance as we work to get businesses open and people back to work. A crucial part of this work will involve getting our SMEs back to capacity as soon as possible. So far the Government has introduced a €12 billion package for firms of all sizes. This includes the temporary wage subsidy scheme, the pandemic unemployment payment for the self-employed and sole traders, grants such as the restart grant, low-cost loans, the write-off of commercial rates, and deferred tax liabilities. All of this has helped to improve the financial position of SMEs.

As business reopens, what is needed now is a plan of sufficient speed and scale to repair some of the damage that has been done and to restore confidence. The July stimulus package, as promised in the programme for Government, will do just that. It will save jobs and create new ones and get our people back to work. In considering the analysis, I see five areas on which we should focus in helping our enterprises into the future: income supports for workers, direct grants for business, cheaper finance, new opportunities for future jobs, and support for the hardest-hit sectors. It is a matter of enabling our SMEs to return to capacity, where possible, and, more broadly, strengthening the resilience, productivity and innovation of SMEs. SMEs are the backbone of our economy and communities across the country and are key drivers of employment.

Separately, the programme for Government set out our ambition to honour this commitment. I intend to form an SME growth task force shortly. This group will help to bring about a national SME growth plan, which will map out an ambitious long-term strategic blueprint well beyond Covid-19. The national SME growth plan will be largely informed by the comprehensive OECD report, SME and Entrepreneurship Policy in Ireland, which was published last year. The plan will include detailed proposals to help SMEs to start up, scale up and access foreign markets. It will look at ways to make them more productive, innovative and ready to transition to the digital and green economy of the future. It will make improvements to areas such as local entrepreneurship ecosystems and local industry clusters to drive regional development. The plan will be brought before the Government for approval as part of the national economic plan in October.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome and support the initiatives announced to date. They have been much needed by the businesses the Tánaiste speaks of. I also welcome and support the July stimulus package. I reiterate, however, the difference between the grant aid scheme and the loan scheme. Equally, I ask the Tánaiste to focus on the under 25s. Approximately 250,000 people aged under 25 are unemployed, and I hope his Department will focus on that cohort too. It is now just four working days until the start date of the next phase of the reopening of the economy, and businesses need clarity on this. They need to order stock, train staff and prepare their premises. Can the Tánaiste confirm when they can expect such clarity?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As for moving to phase 4 and allowing pubs and, I think, nightclubs, casinos and a few other entertainment businesses to reopen, it is likely a decision on this will be made by the Cabinet tomorrow evening, following advice from NPHET. I cannot yet say whether the decision will be in the affirmative or the negative, but it will be made most likely tomorrow evening at our Cabinet meeting. That would give those sectors the best part of a few days to prepare. I hope it will be possible for them to reopen. I know there has been an uptick in the number of new Covid cases in the past week or two, but they still number in the teens or about 20 per day. We did think there would be a slight increase in case numbers as we eased restrictions. I do not think the increase has been so enormous that at this stage it should prevent us moving to stage 4, but that is not a decision for me on my own. We need the advice from NPHET, and the Cabinet needs to decide.

I totally take the Deputy's point about grants and loans. We need more of both. One of the things that I expect will be part of the package next week will be an improved and enhanced restart grant that is open to more businesses. A lot of businesses did not qualify for one reason or another. I would like to expand the grant in order that more businesses can qualify and get up and running or, as the case may be, stay up and running.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Yes. It is important there is a balance between the two. I wish to reiterate and focus on the fact that it is estimated that 2.1 million people will return to work. That is approximately 90% of the pre-Covid number of people in employment. That 90% has presented and, I have no doubt, will present challenges over the coming months, but the 10% who are expected not to return to work must not be left behind. As I said earlier, I would focus on the under 25s. We do not want to see young people long-term unemployed if at all possible. We need to look at schemes and initiatives to get them back to work as quickly as possible.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I hope that Deputy Devlin is correct and that 90% of people get back to work. I think he is correct that a proportion will not be able to return to their old jobs, if only because the companies they had been working for will not succeed or the sectors for which they were working will struggle. It is important we have alternatives for those people, whether new jobs in areas such as housing construction, the care sector or green energy or other opportunities such as apprenticeships, higher education options, back-to-work enterprises and back-to-education options. The Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister with responsibility for higher education are doing some good work on that in order that we have opportunities and plenty of options for people and do not have young people on the pandemic unemployment payment or jobseeker's payments for a prolonged period. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is examining community employment, which is a good scheme and can be scaled up or scaled down depending on the economic conditions. Now is probably the time to scale it up again.