Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I congratulate him on his appointment and look forward to working with him over the coming period.

The importance of local businesses to our local economies and community life cannot be underestimated. These same SMEs, we are told, employ 58% of the total workforce. Many of these are long-standing family-run businesses and play a vital part in the economic and social life of our communities. In my hometown of Athy, and I am sure it is the same all over Ireland, it is often these businesses that communities and sporting groups go to for support in the first instance, and now these same businesses need State help given all this pandemic has thrown at them.

I am sure the Minister of State will agree that these same small community-based businesses that have come to the fore in this pandemic, providing the outlet for many necessary supplies for families that were almost housebound and at the most difficult time for our country. Of course, many communities continue to wait in anticipation for many more of these businesses to open.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the local enterprise offices, LEOs, throughout the country. The Minister of State will know well the great work LEOs put into assisting and preparing the applications of these loans for so many SMEs, and the work they have continued to put in on a daily basis. Other Members have referred to red tape and the Minister of State will be aware of the amount of documentation to be completed in applying for this loan. It can be off-putting, I am sure, for applicants in the first instance, and it is safe to say that without the help of our LEOs many, perhaps, would not have applied at all. It is an area the Minister of State could look at with his Department.

The Department should look at the eligibility bar of ten employees for this loan. The Minister of State will be aware of the importance of every job to the State at the moment, and many SMEs will say that the 11 to 15 employees should be the cut-off point when availing of and applying for this loan at a time when these companies need this type of loan so much.

In my county of Kildare I want to acknowledge the great work of Ms Jacqui McNabb, head of enterprise at the Kildare LEO, and her staff, who helped many businesses throughout Kildare, particularly at this difficult time. The Microfinance Ireland, MFI, loan has resulted in the Kildare LEO processing, I am told, 31 applications to date in 2020, of which, nine applications have been allocated a value of €330,000, with a further two applications pending and 13 ongoing and outstanding cases.

I welcome that the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, highlighted the real concern we all have about youth employment when he moved this Bill. I am sure the Minister of State will agree that when we learned over the weekend from the National Youth Council of Ireland that 45% of young people under 30 were unemployed it was a serious statement that needs to be addressed. If we add that up to 40% of young people in employment are in insecure work, it paints a worrying picture as we look to the future in post-pandemic Ireland.

The Minister, Deputy Varadkar, stated that the July stimulus package would focus on youth unemployment. We in the Labour Party welcome this direction and wait to see what supports will be put in place, but stress that we cannot return to an economic model that allows 40% of our young people to be employed in insecure work. The young people of Ireland need an employment stimulus. Their futures are important to all of us.

While we welcome and support this Bill and note that it is enabling legislation, there are, as I have already stated, elements of the microfinancing loan fund that need to be enhanced and improved. The Labour Party suggested in the Dáil that the figure of €50,000 is inadequate and should be increased to €100,000. As other Members have said, we consider the interest rate of 4% plus to be too expensive at this time when borrowing rates are low.This must be part of a suite of assistance at this time for local businesses. We know how important this loan scheme is for rural Ireland, as 80% of the applications are from outside of Dublin. Our rural towns are dependent on small shops and businesses for their economic lives. These loans can make a difference for many SMEs that continue to provide much-needed employment. We wish those businesses that have reopened recently well and assure them that we will support them like they have supported our communities in the past.