Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. I look forward to working with him and bringing many jobs to County Meath over the next few years. As Senator Dolan mentioned, there are many grants available at the moment that small businesses do not know about and it is important that we convey that message to people today. It is incumbent upon all of those in the Seanad, local government and even the Dáil to get the message out that grants are available to them to draw down. The restart grant is there, for example. It is rates based and the minimum businesses will get if they apply is €2,000. Even if they are paying less than that for their rates, if they apply to their local council now they will get a minimum of €2,000. That is a fundamental grant for small businesses to get today. The enterprise support grant is payable to self-employed people who employ fewer than ten staff. Local plumbers or electricians with two or three employees can apply for that now and if they have been getting the pandemic payment they could get €1,000 from that grant. Business financial planning up to €5,000 is available, which provides 100% funding to a business to get a financial planner. People need to know that is available as well. The online voucher scheme was increased by an extra €14 million two or three weeks ago. The Minister of State might look at that again because all of the LEOs were inundated with applications for it and most businesses are going online now.

I welcome the Bill but when I talk to businesses, they tell me it is not loans they need but grants. Grants are what they need and they also need less red tape in drawing them down. If there is any way the Minister of State could make it easier for our businesses to draw down grants, I would welcome it. I look forward to what the Government is going to bring forward in the July stimulus.