Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is welcome to see an approach based on stimulus. There has been recognition of and learning from some of the mistakes made in the recessions of the past. ICTU, SIPTU, the Think-tank for Action on Social Change, TASC, and other important groups have always presented the alternative and made the case for stimulus but now the OECD, the IMF, the European Commission and others recognise that it is by stimulating growth in our economy and by investing in society that we regroup and we grow. This Bill will increase the amount that Ireland engages with from the European Investment Fund and that is welcome. I hope there will be a similar approach to other funds that may be available from the EU, not only loans but also large recovery grants. I encourage a spirit of ambition and imagination from all of Government in how it seeks to engage with and channel those funds into the many sectors which need them and also into public works, public services and public employment. That is another important factor in terms of stimulus.

Stimulus is important but it is also important that we recognise the detail and that we do not introduce stimulus to sectors based on a trickle-down approach. It has been welcome that Ireland has focused through the Covid payment and others on a ground-up and integrated approach, where money is not simply channelled into extractive businesses but into businesses that are productive. It is important that attention is paid in our stimulus package to issues such as the conditions of workers. It will have to be a key focus to ensure positive, decent conditions for workers in those sectors and businesses which we are supporting. In that regard, this Bill is very welcome. It is SMEs and particularly microenterprises, the smallest businesses, that have played in many cases the most constructive roles as part of the fabric of communities under pressure at this time. Many of these businesses have made caring decisions, sometimes sacrificing profit in the interests of the health and safety of their workers and solidarity with their community. There has been a generosity of spirit and we have seen the difference in businesses which are rooted in that way, small businesses at local level right across our island including, as was mentioned, across the western seaboard.

Such care and thought will be important. While supporting this measure, I want to speak to new and imaginative thinking that may go into the work of Microfinance Ireland. I hope the Minister of State can convey this. At the moment, Microfinance Ireland's grants are largely divided into start-up, expansion and cash flow. The Covid payments have largely focused on cash flow and that is important. I suggest that Microfinance Ireland should consider funding for transition. For many small businesses it is not about simply expansion or cash flow, but about reimagining what they do. Innovation is not simply about start-ups. Innovation happens within existing small businesses that are thinking in new ways. I would like a transition fund to be introduced, if possible. I would like there to be research into the demographics and into the question of who is accessing these microfinance grants. I say that in a positive way because they represent an important opportunity. When we look at groups in society who have faced obstacles in employment - Travellers, those who have come out of direct provision under the right to work, migrants and others - many set out on the road of starting their own small businesses not necessarily by choice but by necessity. Perhaps we could have an examination of how microfinance is supporting these different cohorts in society. That would be useful and might suggest how it could be adapted.

Flexibility around the six months of records might be needed.We know many businesses will not have four or five months of business records which are positive, so that is a key thing.

Lastly, I have a small but important point to make on public procurement. Given the kind of joined-up thinking we have seen on microfinance, there may be something that could be done to allow small companies to have better access to public procurement - perhaps, for example, through a pooling of insurance and other measures. That would be in the same spirit as this legislation.