Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will not take the full five minutes; I will give some of the time to other Members. I wish the Leas-Chathaoirleach well. He will do a fine job and will have my full co-operation.

Rather than repeat everything said by my colleague, Senator Crowe, and by other Members, I will agree with many of the sentiments and add one or two remarks to them. It has been stated over and over again that we have an in excess of 1.3 million people involved in small businesses up and down the country. As has correctly been said, they are so vital and so important.

I have been speaking to many businesses in my area of Roscommon-Galway over the past two weeks. The resilience is there, which is half the solution. However, they need the support of the State, and they need it in a very special way. In doing that, we must ensure, if we can, that we bring interest rates for business down even lower. We must have a mix of grants in the system, because we are facing a dilemma that we have never faced before. Every Member who spoke today has the right ideas as has the Minister but unless this is done right, we will live to regret it. It is about doing it right.

It was fantastic for me to visit those businesses with two, five, eight or nine employees, many of which are family-related and family-orientated. They want to succeed. They want to come out of this with flying colours and they need our support.

Finally, the Minister of State very kindly said to Members that he would take on board any suggestions they have and try to deal with them. I will make one suggestion, and politicians come up against this all the time. He must eliminate the red tape. If this becomes bogged down in red tape, it will be a failure and the businesses will fail. That is the key. Whatever we do to help, the Minister of State must eliminate the red tape.