Again, there will be interest at a lower cost, and we have to work on that as well. The benefits of the scheme are to be passed on to the SMEs and our job is to ensure the focus is on them.

This is about interest rate reduction. Currently, banks can loan to those companies at a certain percentage rate. This scheme will mean that the banks will be lending at a lower interest rate. The profits and benefits from that will go to the businesses and that will help them stay open, trade and create jobs. That is the focus here. The Senator wants to have a conversation about the tax assets scheme. I understand the amendments proposed but they are not really relevant to this discussion. They belong to a discuss…

We did not rule it out of order. After the legislation passes through the Houses we will complete agreements with the banks. Agreements will be signed between the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, ourselves and the banks, which will detail what they intend to do. We will have tables that will show the benefit of the scheme and the guarantee. The legislation is intended to provide assistance from the State to qualifying enterprises. It leverages financial institutions in the network to provide much-needed li…

Let us also be clear that we are concerned that if we do not have this credit guarantee a lot of businesses might be in a position where they cannot access funding. They might fail and we would lose jobs. We want to do this, it is a business support and that is what we are trying to do here. Most people understand the necessity of doing that because this lending might not happen without this guarantee. As such it is about saving jobs and businesses. That is what we are trying to do and it is important that we do th…

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…

I thank Senator Higgins for tabling this amendment. I know she probably spoke to the first amendment more than the second. I understand that she has genuine issues around that and that she wants to have a genuine conversation. The Senator makes extremely valid arguments about choice and the conversations we must have. I am afraid we cannot have them with this Bill because I am not in charge of the banks, but it is a conversation worth having and it is an issue that has been debated in this House. The Ministers for …

We will probably get a chance on Committee Stage to go through many of the suggestions that were made. I thank the House for the support for the Bill. Most Members across the board supported it. I noticed that Deputy Martin Kenny did not like how we are going to administer the loans, but he did not put forward any other way to do it. Most Members agree, therefore, that this is the right approach to take regarding this intervention. Again, this is only one initiative and some €12 billion more in supports will be ann…

I got a chance to touch on this briefly on Second Stages. I will first explain what section 5 is about. It introduces a new section 4A into the Act of 2012. This new section 4A provides the Minister with the power, subject to the consent of both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, to give guarantees in accordance with the Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme. The Covid-19 scheme will be open for guarantees to be put in place until December of this year, or no later than 24 Decem…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of interest costs because I did not get the chance to go into the detail on this yesterday. It is important that when we are having these discussions, SMEs, as well as those who provide assistance to them, such as State agencies and Chartered Accountants Ireland, recognise that this is only one of several interventions that the State is making, using taxpayers' money to help businesses to reopen, restart, survive, grow and create employment, as well as to maintain existing e…

I will try to deal with most of the issues raised. I will not stray into the mortgage issue. I will leave that to the Minister for Finance. I will respond to the questions in reverse order. Deputy Mattie McGrath did contribute to the debate last night and I did try to address some of his concerns. The Deputy had to leave early last night as well and I did not get an opportunity to do a full wrap-up today. The Deputy mentioned he has concerns about the legislation. This legislation amends existing legislation which …

We are using the existing bank network to distribute the finance to people who need it. If we set up our own network, it could slow down the process, it could be cumbersome and costly and so on. The credit guarantee, which works all across Europe, is done this way. We guarantee the financial products. This puts the banks in a stronger position to give people a better deal on their loans. That is what we are trying to achieve. We all want the same thing, namely, access to finance and access to it on simpler terms an…

I did not interrupt Deputy O'Reilly when she spoke.

I will use Deputy O'Reilly's words.

With respect to Deputy O'Reilly's terms, I put them back at her. In my view, her colleague did not act like a businessman last night. Rather, he acted like a child and a spoiled child at that. He knew that the European Council meetings ran over by a couple of days, the knock-on effect of which was that the Cabinet and sub-Cabinet meetings were rescheduled. The Tánaiste wanted to be here to open the debate because this is legislation on which he has worked in his Department and in respect of which he has been on the…

With respect, I was asked to address the situation last night. People do not like that I am here; that is fair enough.

With regard to the issue of evictions raised by Deputy McGrath, the legislation that went through the House towards the end of March to ban evictions was solely in regard to domestic and residential housing. I took that legislation through on behalf of my then senior Minister. We announced that there were no evictions and that businesses are still under pressure but those evictions are linked to domestic and residential premises, not commercial premises. I make that point in case there was any doubt in regard to th…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: “extends its sympathy to the employees of Debenhams Ireland who have lost their jobs given the liquidation of the company; acknowledges the distress and worry that this is causing for employees of Debenhams Ireland, and the added difficulty at the present time when mobility remains restricted; notes that: — Debenhams Ireland is undergoing a court-supervised liquidation, and that the case remains before the High Court and …

I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring forward the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2020. This is another important piece of legislation that is part of the Government's efforts to help the wider enterprise sector meet the enormous challenges presented by Covid-19. I thank our colleagues for their co-operation in helping to bring the Bill to the House this week so that we can get through it as quickly as we possibly can. We have discussed this as part of the debate on the Microent…

Just to point out, the Tánaiste wanted to be able to debate this legislation but the Cabinet meetings were changed because of the European Council meetings. I think the Deputy is aware of that.