Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Results were mixed but the hurlers did well in any event. We will not say anything else.

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber to debate this important Bill. Like other Senators, I wish all businesses that are reopening a permanent reopening, which is very important. As I said in the Chamber last week when the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, was here, many businesses have had a hellish 14 months with regard to Covid. They have been through the mill. Some businesses may have opened afresh in early 2020 and had their great plans go awry, so it is great to see businesses reopening. It is important that we support local businesses, where possible.

I will not say that one would almost have forgotten about Brexit, given all that has gone on in the past year, but certainly the challenges for businesses in the context of Covid have overshadowed its impact. Brexit has been with us for a number of years, from even before the referendum when there was speculation of the possible impact of Brexit, to the referendum result, to the negotiations and the settlement that took place in 2019. One of the challenges that businesses identified during the Government of 2011-16 related to the availability of credit. Banks that had been flaithulach to all-comers became risk averse in regard to lending to businesses and private individuals.

The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland was established in 2014 as an organ to provide stable, lower cost, long-term funding options for SMEs and it has proved its worth in terms of the number of SMEs it has supported over that time. It has been somewhat reimagined. Before its inception, the challenge for businesses related to not being able to access funding and then there were the challenges of Brexit, that is, both the anticipation of it and the fact that once it had become a reality, businesses would be impacted. That, of course, was followed by Covid. Some businesses, therefore, have experienced a trifecta of issues over the past ten years. This funding is very important to allow the supports from the Government, through the SBCI, to continue.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will be those best able to engage with the SBCI with loans from their voted departmental budgets. We need to recognise that because of our good standing as a country and the work done since 2011 to ensure we regained our reputation, we are still able to access funding at low interest rates, which is very important, as are the solidarity from the European Commission and the fact that the SBCI is able to access this fund from Europe. The European Union provides an important solidarity. Others charted their own course and that is part of the reason we need these loans.

I acknowledge all the businesses that have struggled and possibly will continue to struggle arising from the impact of Brexit and Covid. These supports are very important. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, and others before them in establishing the SBCI and continuously providing supports. Ultimately, all SMEs, whether small or medium sized, provide critical jobs throughout our country and that is what it is all about. It is about ensuring that as many businesses as possible can stay afloat, continue to hire and possibly expand and hire new people.

I commend the Bill to the House.