As the Deputy states, the future growth loan scheme is working very well. It is long-term money but it is for a particular purpose where companies want to and can expand, so they would already be doing quite well. The microfinance loan for very small businesses is also going very well. The credit guarantee scheme was not doing so well but there has been a big pick-up in the past month or two. I will come back to the Deputy in writing with some of the data on availability but last week we allocated more capital to t…

They are all very reasonable questions. Unfortunately, I cannot write as quickly as the Deputy can speak, so I may have missed a few of them. I will do my best to answer those I can remember. It is the case that the average interest rates on mortgages and loans in Ireland are too high, and higher than the EU average. However, they have been falling, and falling substantially in recent years. It should be borne in mind that like-for-like comparisons are often misleading. Other countries have much higher bank charges…

I thank the Deputies. I recognise Deputy Farrell's ongoing interest in Aer Lingus, Dublin Airport and aviation workers in particular. As I said earlier, we are in discussions with Aer Lingus to see what we can do to make sure the airline survives the pandemic and is there to enable connectivity whenever we can get flying again. In regard to the hospitality sector, it benefits from both the wage subsidy scheme and the CRSS, which applies when premises are closed. I know many businesses have moved over to take-out an…

I will come back to the Deputies' other points later, if I can, or in writing.

Yes.

Kerry Group has been in contact with the Department. We are aware that 150 job losses are planned. They will not all take place in Naas but we will obviously be working to ensure redeployment is an option and that the number of compulsory redundancies will be minimised, if there are any at all. I had not heard the idea of Ireland becoming an EU hub for live events. It sounds like a good idea. It sounds exciting. I would be interested in reading any proposals on it to determine whether my Department could help with …

On the rates waiver issue, the Government is considering whether to extend the rates holiday into quarter 2. We will give businesses notice of that long before the Bill might arrive.

We have only had initial contact with Kerry Group but my understanding is that what is proposed is a consolidation of services across two of its sites. The group has more staff than work that needs to be done so I am not sure that saving the jobs, as such, is a possibility. Perhaps redeployment, early retirement and voluntary redundancy are possible. The objective is always to avoid compulsory redundancies where possible. We intend to have the CBAS open for applications by the end of this month. There will not be a…

It is fair enough to state that the stay and spend scheme has not cost very much. It has not cost as much as we had believed because people have been confined to their counties or to within a radius of 5 km. The same applies to the 9% VAT rate. The hospitality sector did not benefit from that in the way we had intended. When we get to the point where hospitality businesses can reopen, which I hope will be in the summer months, we will need to determine what more we can do to help to reboot the industry, which has b…

Could the Deputy give me the name of the scheme again?

I will have to check up on that and revert to the Deputy. I am not familiar with that one. I dare say it does not fall under the remit of my Department but I might find that it does so I will check.

That is a scheme under the remit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The Minister for Finance is heading up that. He has made the application for funding under the SURE scheme. As I understand it, it involves borrowed money. It is an EU fund from which we can borrow money for schemes such as the EWSS, but it is at a blended rate. We can actually borrow more cheaply from the markets than from EU funds. It is more expensive to borrow through the SURE scheme than on the money markets. We are participating because we believe we should do so, but it is actually more expensive.

When I say we will not let Aer Lingus fail, I do not want to create the impression that it is in any way about to fail or anything like that, just in case I am misunderstood. What I am saying is that we are providing a lot of financial support already through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and the EWSS. We will provide more to enable us to retain essential connectivity with Heathrow, the United States and those key hubs in Europe, as well as for cargo. The sad truth is that the way things are going now it co…

With regard to the redundancies at Rehab Enterprises Limited, the total number of people employed in Rehab Logistics Limerick is 37, 36 of whom are currently supported under the wage subsidy scheme for people with disabilities. It has now been proposed that the company will make 37 positions redundant. Over time, Rehab Logistics in Limerick has attempted to maintain its business. This has become increasingly difficult due to a number of factors, including difficulties in replacing contracts and changing market cond…

Yes.

I will make sure those notes to which Deputy Ó Murchú referred are brought to my attention. I am genuine in what I say about wanting to help out firms that are, perhaps, falling between the cracks and not receiving any help with fixed costs. It is always hard to design a scheme that works for everyone but we will do our best to design future schemes. The note the Deputy is going to send will be helpful in my engagement with NBI. I thank him for that as well. With regard to aviation, and I do not necessarily mean an…

These are areas under the remit of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, but I am taking an interest in them. For the taxi industry, a package was put in place by the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, that is worth about €15 million. Also, in the budget the rules around the PUP were changed to allow people to continue to work and pick up fares while still drawing the PUP. We can give consideration to …

The Minister of State, Deputy Troy, might come in on the .ie domain names as he has responsibility for digital and company regulation but I think that is owned by University College Dublin. It is not Government controlled but I will come back to the Deputy on that. I am always afraid to speculate about the future when it comes to what might or might not be possible this summer but I hope and believe that a domestic tourism season will be possible this summer. If one looks at where we got to last summer, we were dow…

I thank Deputy Leddin for those supportive words. I am due to meet Insurance Ireland in the next couple of weeks and if the Deputy can pass me on a bit more detail about those e-bike companies on greenways, I will take it up with Insurance Ireland directly and see if something can be done in that regard. I would have thought it is an insurable risk that could be covered and I do not see why they cannot get insurance. We will help if we can. I thank Deputy Cahill for his passionate remarks in support of people who w…