David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I compliment the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade on the job he has done and on keeping his temper in the light of the rather abusive comments from some of his British colleagues. I support this amendment. Nobody is saying that nothing is being done. I have heard the advertisements from the Brexit loan scheme, Enterprise Ireland and so on and they are very good. They are on the radio quite frequently and they do attract attention. However, I understand that the uptake, particularly in small and medium enterprises, is quite slow. I think that is worrying. Maybe it is because people feel there might be expense involved and they cannot cope with this. The proposed section 9(2) states "This review will include, but not be limited to; examining why there has been such a low uptake of these Brexit business supports to date, identify barriers for businesses accessing these supports and offer solutions on how to make it easier". I can only see that as being constructive and I welcome it.

I am not quite sure about the language of the Sinn Féin amendment, which provides that the "Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation may undertake a review". It is not "shall". It goes on to provide that this review "will" include such and such. It will not include anything if the Minister decides not to do it, and "may" leaves that open. Perhaps Sinn Féin is considering resubmitting the amendment on Report Stage if it does not pass. It might consider that slight grammatical change.