Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus is deas an rud a bheith ag plé seo. Má bhreathnaíonn muid ar an bpictiúr níos leithne ó thaobh na heacnamaíochta de, tá sé soiléir, nuair a fheiceann muid go bhfuil fás beag ag teacht ar an GDP, go bhfuil an GNP ina steillbheatha. Cuid mhaith den rud atá ag tarlú sa tír seo ná nach bhfuil na gnóthaí beaga in ann feidhmiú. Cuireann Sinn Féin an milleán do go leor de seo ar na polasaithe déine atá tugtha isteach, ar na buiséid éagsúla a tugadh isteach ag na Rialtais a tháinig roimhe seo agus ar an Rialtas féin, mar gheall nach bhfuil airgead ina bpócaí ag daoine agus ní féidir leo, dá bhrí sin, a bheith ag ceannach sna siopaí agus sna haonaid beaga miondíola agus mar sin de. Sin ráite, tá baint mór ag cúrsaí creidmheasa sna bainc le seo chomh maith. Cé go bhfáiltíonn muid roimh an Bille seo, ní dóigh linn go dtéann sé sách fada. Ach is fearr ann é ná gan a bheith ann. Even though this Government and the previous Government were able to find lots of money to bail out the banks, both Administrations were very slow to put pressure on the banks to make credit available to businesses.

Sinn Féin cautiously welcomes this Bill as being of some help to struggling SMEs, but it needs to be complemented by a whole raft of other measures if it is to have any effect. Six businesses close each day in Ireland, far more than are opening. This is the clearest evidence anybody would need to show how we are living in a shrinking economy. The Government has chosen the path of austerity and of shrinking the economy. This is failing and small businesses are feeling that failure more than most, which is the context in which we are examining this modest proposal.

I note that in places like Clifden in Connemara, where I am from, some 50% of retail outlets on the main streets have closed in recent years as a result of the economic decline and the failed policies that have been brought in. Were we in government, our approach would have been to be more aggressive, using the State's stake in AIB and Bank of Ireland to compel them to get on with lending to SMEs and to others who are critical to the functioning of the real economy. The banks are still too focused on lending to the construction industry. These banks have received massive bailouts and also received low interest loans from the ECB, yet they are not passing on the credit to SMEs.

This Bill is overdue. Such schemes operate in 100 countries worldwide and have operated in the north of the country since the 1980s. The Bill is enabling legislation and leaves a great deal of discretion to the Minister in terms of the critical nitty-gritty. We would say the Minister will certainly need to wield any power he has over those banks to ensure credit is made available. We also note the lack of ambition in the Bill which is obvious from the fact it is predicted that only 2% to 4% of SMEs will benefit even though the Irish SME body's survey shows that up to 50% of its members have been refused credit recently. We would hope to see that percentage increased.

We welcome the fact loans will be limited to smaller businesses with fewer than 250 employees. This makes sense as bigger enterprises could soon soak up what moneys are available and they are better placed to avail of traditional loans.

The 2% charge on the borrower contained in section 8 has the potential to undermine many of the other positive aspects. Sinn Féin will consider trying to remove this unfair charge through an amendment at a later stage. We will also consider the possibility of proposing that the Bill be amended to compel the Minister to lay before the Oireachtas an annual report on the impact of the Bill. There is potentially a large amount of public money involved here and democratic scrutiny of that money should be part of the Bill. There is also the issue of who is liable when there is default on one of these loans. We propose that the recovery of money or assets should reflect the level of guarantee shared between the lender and the Minister.

Although parts of the parts of the Bill are to be welcomed, we feel it does not go far enough. It also needs to be taken in the context of the wider economic situation in this country, which we feel is failing. The jobs initiative is not yielding the jobs it promised and the austerity measures that are being imposed, particularly on the middle and lower income earners in this State, are a huge additional factor in the problems SMEs have. Measures such as increasing the cost of fuel in the budget have had massive impact on small businesses which transport goods or are, for example, dependent on salespeople travelling about the country, and this is all adding to the bottom line. Such measures are completely detrimental to supporting SMEs.

Beidh Sinn Féin ag tabhairt isteach roinnt leasuithe ag Céim an Choiste den Bhille seo, ach ní bheidh muid ag cur i gcoinne an Bhille ag an bpointe seo.