Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. It is an apt day for him to be in the Chamber as it is an incredibly positive day for businesses right across the country. I extend good wishes to all the businesses reopening in Tipperary today. It has been an incredibly tough five months for them. I know from speaking to numerous business owners in Clonmel and Cahir over the weekend that the excitement about being able to get back to work is something else. While they appreciate all the supports they have had in the recent months, there is nothing like making one's own money and having one's own business. Most people who have a business treat it like a child or a family member in the way they run it. I wish them all well.

I welcome the establishment of this new Brexit impact loan scheme, which will have a lending capacity of up to €330 million. As the Minister of State said, the amount can be increased if necessary. The scheme is to be launched in parallel with the closure of the existing Brexit loan scheme and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland working capital scheme. It is also very important that the Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme will remain in place until the end of 2021 to provide appropriate access to finance options for businesses for which Covid-19 is the primary disrupter. However, these two schemes provide a number of enhancements for Brexit impacted small and medium-sized businesses seeking to access finance. These include providing funding for primary producers; offering longer terms of up to six years, which is a doubling of the previous option of three years; lending for a wider range of loan purposes, including refinancing; and financing to support cashflow and investment purposes.

The enhanced scheme has been developed in the context of the additional complexities and implications that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about for Brexit impacted businesses. This new Brexit impact loan scheme will give farmers and food producers in County Tipperary, which had previously been unable to do so, to access funding at a much lower rate than they can access anywhere else. This will be another useful tool for businesses in Tipperary post Covid-19 for the creation of local jobs and will lead economic recovery.As the Minister of State said, it is important to acknowledge that the Bill is being supported by all political parties across the House. I hope that continues today.

This Bill is about supporting businesses and jobs. I am always guilty of talking about Tipperary and jobs there. When we bring through proposals to support businesses, there are benefits. In my county of Tipperary there are many people involved in food production and farming who can benefit from this scheme and who have loans that they can refinance for a lower rate of 3%, if they so wish. If I am correct, I believe that approximately 95% of the loans will be granted at a rate of just under 3%, which is extremely good.

I would encourage anyone who is in farming or food production in Tipperary to look at this as an option going forward. It is just another tool to support them through the Covid pandemic. As the Minister of State outlined, there are many businesses that have only started to see the challenges that have been posed by Brexit in recent months. I deal with many food and drink production companies in Tipperary. It must be stated that many of them have only started to realise the impact that Brexit is having on their businesses. When this scheme is taken into account with the other supports that have been available, such as the Covid restrictions support scheme and the employment wage subsidy scheme and all of the supports that have been introduced over the past 12 months by this Government to help businesses that have been struggling - some businesses have really struggled more than others to survive - it will give them the opportunity to try to get loans that can help them get back on their feet. I encourage businesses to have that confidence to take out loans and to build once they reopen. It will take time. First, businesspeople need the confidence to take that risk. If they do that, and if they are supported by people locally, the period it takes for them to get back to where they were will be shortened.

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for bringing this Bill before us. I hope that the Bill will get the same sort of support today as it did in the Lower House.