Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State on his new appointment. I welcome the Bill. The SME sector was probably the sector hardest hit by the last crash. As we know, most of them are small family-owned businesses with a few employees. They suffered the most. There was no back-up support or social welfare for them when their businesses closed. They had nothing to hang onto. When they went into banks, the doors were closed. Just a couple of years previously, the banks had been throwing money at them. There was no funding to keep them afloat and they were treated terribly by the banking industry at that time. A lot of them used their pension schemes or their children's education funds to stay afloat and keep their employees engaged.

I welcomed the establishment of Microfinance Ireland in 2012. It was a good initiative that was badly needed at the time. Today I welcome the increase in funding from €35 million to €105 million and the potential to access additional credit also has to be welcomed. A number of people have already stated that flexibility is needed and that we do not need to put businesses in boxes which mean they do not qualify for loans. Bureaucracy has been mentioned.

The restart grant has been managed through local authorities. In my experience with the SME sector, it has worked very well. The process was simple and was not bureaucratic, and applicants were dealt with efficiently. Most businesses have the money in their pockets today. We need to make sure this money is used to ensure the viability of these businesses into the future, which requires various measures that cannot be prescriptive. That is why we need flexibility.

As everybody has said, SMEs are the heart of our rural communities. Microfinance affects rural Ireland more than the cities. Barbers, garages, shops and coffee shops can avail of this funding. It is to be hoped that the Bill, if passed, and the subsequent announcement will make microfinance easily accessible to them and be heavily promoted.