Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are trying to support businesses and support the banks in getting money out to them at a cheaper rate. That is what we are trying to do. There is no cost to the State if the loan is successful, and that is a success all around because we want businesses to be sustained, to survive, thrive and grow. I accept that the banks still have a lot of work to do to rebuild that trust between them and their communities and the business community. There is no doubt about that. In their response to Covid-19, the banks have a chance to build those relationships and rebuild that trust. That concern about the banks comes up in every debate. We will track and monitor this scheme through the SBCI and it will be visible to everybody that the banks are passing on an interest rate reduction. Customers will also vote with their feet. If banks have competition among themselves and one does not pass on as great a rate as the next, people will move banks and follow that rate. We will track this and we can reapportion the share of this guarantee to banks in response. After this legislation is passed, there will be negotiations with the banks, building on the ones we have had already, to make sure we can track what is happening and see what we want to see coming out of this scheme, which is lower-cost finance for businesses.

The deferral of tax for banks and other companies has been in place for a long time. Every functional country has such a system for business, though people might not always like it. While it did not come up in the discussion in the Dáil last night, Senator Higgins has led the discussion on it here today and it is an ongoing debate. It is a matter for different legislation and a different conversation with a different Minister because this Bill is not about banks' profits. It is about businesses' survival and that is what we are trying to achieve. I do not want to labour the point. I was happy to make some comments on this matter, although I was not really supposed to.

I welcome industry bodies such as Tourism Ireland or Fáilte Ireland playing a role in loan applications. Having worked with businesses for many years, both as a politician and otherwise, while many businesses are brilliant at what they do, whether that is running a hotel or window manufacturing, they often need additional guidance as regards cash flow statements, financial products, form-filling and so on. They often need advice when putting in applications for future growth or putting together a growth expansion plan, and there is no one better than the representative bodies of those sectors to give that advice. They should always have a role and we encourage that. Many of the Department's clients work through LEOs and Enterprise Ireland to get that expert advice and guidance. Each sector brings its own expertise and that should always feature on loan applications because they can often fall down on detailed financial plans, cash flow statements and so on, which do not always make a positive judgment possible. In the microenterprise loan space, we work with our clients on their application forms to fill in more information and adjust them because the quality of the application has a big impact on the success of the loan drawdown. The credit guarantee puts banks, credit unions and everybody else in a stronger position to deliver a better financial product, which customers now need if they are going to get through Covid-19 and keep their business doors open. That is what we are supporting and focusing on.