Results 4,521-4,540 of 6,437 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Early Childhood Care Education (16 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Senator. That is appreciated. The amount of pay an employee receives is a matter for negotiation and agreement between the individual and the employer subject only to the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. There is nothing to prevent employees reaching individual or collective agreements with employers on higher rates based on qualifications or other agreed...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 1:In page 3, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “PART 1 PRELIMINARY AND GENERALShort title, commencement and collective citation1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Act 2015.(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 2:2. In page 3, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “Definitions2. In this Act— “Minister” means the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; “Principal Act” means the Credit Guarantee Act 2012.”.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: In response to Deputy Peadar Tóibín's amendment, in extending the scope of the legislation and introducing additional flexibility, there will be scope to examine how a range of finance providers can operate under the Bill. I cannot accede to the amendment which relates specifically to crowd funding and credit unions. As far as the Government is concerned, these provisions are not...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: We are satisfied that the scope of the Bill is broad enough to provide for the alternative financing arrangements to which Deputy Peadar Tóibín refers. Section 2(1)(b) provides that the "finance provider stands approved for the time being by the Minister in accordance with this section". This is sufficiently broad to cater for what the Deputy wants to achieve. We are all trying...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: We are taking them seriously. As I said, there is sufficient scope and flexibility to ensure we will have as broad a range of alternative financing arrangements for SMEs as possible. We are taking this issue seriously, but we do not want to go down the road of specifically identifying in primary legislation different sectors because that could tie our hands in terms of the extent and...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: We in the Department and I, as a constituency Deputy, are in constant contact with the credit union sector, as is the Department of Finance, in regard to the role of credit unions and how that will evolve in the context of the SME sector. We have asked the credit unions to bring forward proposals in that regard. As far as I understand, there has been no significant detail from the credit...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Deputy for his words. I know he is particularly interested in the scheme and we have spoken about it. I am not accepting amendment No. 4 which deals with a specific matter which is not appropriate for legislation. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the banks and other finance providers and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, will actively promote...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: That is precisely the point I was going to make. It is probably sufficiently answered by Part 3 of the Bill in terms of the SBCI and its role as a promotional financial institution.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: No, it will allow it to provide the counter guarantee.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: Yes, to provide the counter guarantee.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: No, it is already providing credit through the on lenders but this is in the context of it operating under a counter guarantee scheme and operating the counter guarantee.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: The SBCI is a new part of the landscape and something we all welcome from the point of view of competition. The SBCI is working extremely hard to promote the opportunities available to those who cannot access particular types of finance through the pillar banks or are in a particular set of circumstances We are anxious to ensure that SBCI products are available and are front and centre in...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: There were a few in north Dublin. I know some very productive farmers there and farming is a very important part of the economy in north Dublin. SBCI has been a very welcome addition to the landscape over the last few months and is performing very well in the short period it has been in existence.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: The Deputy may have been at the ploughing championships, as I and others in the House were. There was a very strong representation there from SBCI; its representatives talked to the agricultural community about the possibilities that are available through SBCI. At Taking Care of Business events, the Department includes dozens of agencies which are under its aegis and which operate in the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 6:In page 7, line 17, after “section” to insert “and section 11of the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Act 2015”. Section 4 of the principal Act, entitled "Power of Minister to give guarantees", contained a number of important elements including the spread of risk and an effective monetary cap of €11.25 million on the State's contingent...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: It is the combined exposure from the operation of the credit guarantee scheme and the counter guarantee scheme. One of the reasons we are including the SBCI here - there is broad agreement as to why we should - is to leverage support from European institutions, such as COSME, and from the Horizon 2020 initiative. We want to ensure that we spread the risk in many ways. There are good reasons...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: The limit is €150 million. Under the counter guarantee scheme, the lending that can take place to small and medium enterprises is €200 million. The credit guarantee scheme limit and the counter guarantee scheme limit is combined. I have lost my train of thought. I reflected on this earlier but I will reiterate it. Section 4 of the principal Act, entitled power of Minister...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: There will be more institutions involved with this arrangement. The risk is spread and we are trying to bring people along with us on this. The experience of the scheme did not meet our expectations initially and we are broadening it and including the SBCI. There will be more success in doing this. In spreading the risk, more SMEs will become involved. We need to promote this, which is...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Gerald Nash: The Act placed the maximum limit on the value of funds that could be lent to SMEs at €150 million per annum. If we consider that in the context of the €15.6 million, it is fairly limited. We are trying to spread the risk and increase the appetite of lenders so they can get involved in the process. This will achieve that goal. There is much potential to increase lending...