Seanad debates

Monday, 12 July 2021

Companies (Rescue Process for Small and Micro Companies) Bill 2021: Second Stage

 

9:30 am

Photo of Róisín GarveyRóisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I welcome this Bill, or these amendments to an existing Act. The legislation is great. As a coalition Government, we agreed we would introduce it under the programme for Government. A year on, we are delivering on that, which is really positive. Now, as we hope for some sort of post-pandemic Ireland, is an important time to do this.

The main objective of the Bill is to provide for a stand-alone rescue framework to help small businesses of up to 50 employees to remain in business during periods of temporary difficulty. On Senator Mullen's question as to why we did not do this sooner, nobody saw the pandemic coming. Considering we are still in it, it is not bad that, a year on, we are delivering on that. Small and micro enterprises comprise 98% of all Irish firms. I have spoken about SMEs in Ireland but we do not really appreciate the number of jobs and the amount of money they generate. When thinking about that, we should always bear in mind whether it is a small or micro company that we are supporting. Wherever possible, we always should support them. As the preceding Senator said, 800,000 people are employed in the sector. Many businesses in the sector have been damaged by what has happened in the pandemic. Retail, tourism, the arts, hospitality and the service industry, which are really strongly represented in my county, Clare, have been affected. We have all seen at first hand the challenges small businesses have faced. This Bill is so important because it will hopefully help them find a rescue plan that will cost them less, keep more of them afloat and make it easier on them rather than having them get caught up in courts. We are all aware of how complicated and costly courts can be. This Bill is an important amendment to the 2014 legislation.

Chambers Ireland, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and ISME were all involved in the consultation on this Bill so it is not as if we just tore into it. There was really good consultation with many people. It is on listening to those in the sector we are trying to save that we come up with proper solutions, which is what this Bill is doing.I only became the spokesperson for enterprise, trade and employment one year ago but in that year I have been combing through everything that has been happening in government to see what it has been doing for that sector. It has been really impressive to see the amount of supports, grants, advice and mentoring that has come through every sector and especially for small businesses through the local enterprise offices. It is a real sign we value that sector of society so much in that so much has gone into that sector in the past year.

I have had businesses complain they cannot keep up with all the supports and they are so busy working, they have not got time to find them all. To that end, I have put together a PDF document of every single support available to small and microbusinesses in Ireland, with live links. I will give it to every Senator here in order that we can share it with all the small businesses. Anybody who runs a small business will tell you he or she does not have the time to be looking things up. I find departmental websites quite daunting to navigate at times. It is good we get that Bill and the information out there on all the supports we have put in place for small businesses. There are some really good ones.

I have seen businesses that were never online before coming online and businesses that never use social media or PR tools really upping their game. People are discovering small businesses that may have been there for years. Thanks, in some kind of twisted, positive way to the pandemic, they have a presence they never had before. People are discovering businesses in their areas that they now support. That is thanks, in no small way, to the supports we have brought to date. This is another stepping stone in hoping we can try to keep as many small businesses going and not just surviving, but thriving again, post pandemic.

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