Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael)

The scheme will be reviewed. It is taxpayers' money. Inevitably, some businesses will not succeed. That is the nature of business - one must take a risk. However, we are dealing with money that has been paid by taxpayers, and the Minister of State has explained how this is to be funded. The 2% is important to fund the scheme. It is an important first step. We are dealing with businesses that do not have collateral for banks and do not meet the banks' lending criteria, so the State is stepping in and taking a big risk. That is important and I sincerely welcome it.

On the Enterprise Ireland issue, I note Senator Cullinane's comments. The new local enterprise offices, LEOs, that will be in place in local authorities are geared towards the smaller types of business the Senator was referring to and under the new arrangement they will have the expertise and support of Enterprise Ireland that previously was not available to them. They will also have the benefit of the corporate knowledge of the county enterprise boards within the local authority structure. The issue of commercial rates will feed into that as well. It is a very important step for the small businesses mentioned by the Senator.

I welcome the Minister of State's clarification of the thinking behind this proposal in the Bill.