On 26 December last year, President Higgins signed a Bill I sponsored into law, the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019, three years after I initiated it in the House. It was passed unanimously on all Stages in the Dáil and Seanad. It was described as a game changer by the Alliance for Insurance Reform and by others as the most radical change in insurance law in this century. It shifted the balance away from the insurance companies in favour of the consumer. The Tánaiste will be aware that hundreds, if not thousa…

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On a point of order, will the Taoiseach clarify who is now the Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht? Deputy Calleary, who I wish well in his new position, was responsible for the Gaeltacht. Is there now no Minister of State for the Gaeltacht or where does that responsibility lie? Is it with the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers?

I ask the Acting Chairman to bear with us because of the new venue. We are dealing with section 2 and I asked for an intervention.

I was not sure if the Acting Chairman was ignoring me after his earlier rants.

We do not have the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, in attendance. I am surprised that he has missed the entirety of the passage of this Bill. Will he speak on Committee Stage? Do we expect him to appear today? Section 2 deals with the circumstances for the application of section 8, that is, a European Investment Bank, EIB, guarantee fund being formally established when states representing at least 60% of EIB capital have made appropriate commitments. Section 8 will not apply until that occasion. Can the Minister of State…

I acknowledge that we are in difficult times. The Minister of State who dealt with this on Second Stage has moved portfolio, given the sacking of the former Minister, Deputy Cowen. There is an urgency in passing this legislation. I did not hear anybody on the Opposition benches say so but I can speak for Sinn Féin in saying that we are willing to support the passage of the Bill. Scrutiny of the Bill and an earlier stage was waived, which was correct because the Bill is about supporting SMEs. Given that we waived su…

How will our capital commitment be realised? Will there be a call in the event of a default on a proportion of the loans that will be shared equally by member states for that portion? How will that call be accessed? Will it happen after a period of time or after a quantum of loans are defaulted upon? What is the mechanism of the notification to Parliament regarding that?

I want to be helpful because Committee Stage is challenging given the Minister of State's unfamiliarity with the Bill and the officials not being as close to him as usual. I will ask a number of questions on the section and his officials could write a note for him. Sometimes it is beneficial to go into private session and allow officials to respond in order to speed up the process. I will leave that at the discretion of the Minister of State. How will the guarantee fund interact with current lending schemes, such a…

In the normal course of events, I would propose that this Committee Stage session be adjourned.

I am not suggesting this because I understand the time pressure with this Committee Stage. However, we are dealing with legislation and the Minister responsible for it is not here. Therefore, questions on it cannot be answered satisfactorily on the public record of the Dáil. It is not best practice to go into private session because then it is not on the record of the Dáil. However, if it facilitates the answers, and that is what I want at this point to inform me for Report Stage and others for the Stages in the Se…

For clarification, what does the suspension entail? There have been occasions - and I am not one to push this, although other views have been expressed - where a Minister when dealing with questions on some complex scenarios, although I would argue that these are not complex questions, the committee has gone into private session to allow officials to speak openly and freely. If we suspend, that will not allow that to happen. I can continue to ask these questions. Some of them are quite simple, but I am conscious th…

I thank the Acting Chairman for facilitating the brief adjournment during which we could speak to the Minister of State and the officials. I thank the officials for their engagement with myself and others on this Bill, and for any notes that were sent to us. On section 2, I will focus, particularly at this point, on the EIB guarantee fund. I understand the total amount we are likely to be able to draw down from that fund is €1.4 billion to €1.5 billion. We have concerns in Sinn Féin about what is being earmarked in…

I have one final question on this matter. It relates to the pillar banks' ability to use this guarantee to lend. They can lend to SMEs and larger companies. We went through that and through my concerns about how it needs to be targeted earlier. Will the banks be able to use this guarantee to lend only to companies that are tax-resident within the State? Will they have the capacity to support a business located in, for example, Strabane? As a result of Brexit, the people of the North have been dragged out of the Eur…

I wish to raise a point that my colleague in the Seanad, Senator McCallion, has raised quite a lot about the supports that are there. What the Minister of State says about it being outside the jurisdiction and that it is a European fund for European companies is all fair in a normal scenario. This, however, is not a normal scenario. We are dealing with Brexit, with a part of our island which is now under the same customs guidance as the rest of the EU and is different from Britain. That has happened because we actu…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(2) Payments referred to in subsection (1) may be paid out of the Central Fund, or the growing produce thereof, subject to a resolution passed by Dáil Éireann.”. I still would like to hear from the Minister about what guarantees or protections there are for the Irish taxpayers, who are providing a 100% guarantee, that the banks will not try to profit from this. Can he inform me, with regard to what is likely to be zero interest ra…

I have raised this issue twice now. This is the third and, I hope, last time I will raise it. The Minister of State did not respond to it the first two times. I refer to the guarantee scheme. How will the Government ensure that lending from the SBCI to the pillar banks - more than likely at zero interest, given the lending capacity and the credit rating of the EIB - will not be lent on to SMEs that are struggling during this pandemic at higher interest rates that are above the operational costs of the pillar banks?…

The Minister said in response to my question about the banks profiteering from the EIB guarantee scheme that there will be a memorandum of understanding between the relevant parties. I presume the relevant parties in this case are each pillar bank and the SBCI. Has that memorandum of understanding been drafted? Will it be laid before the Houses? Does it actually prevent the banks from profiteering from this pandemic in the way I have outlined by increasing the rate they will on-lend to SMEs? I would like to have si…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille atá os ár gcomhair inniu. Labhróidh mé ar an context níos leithne ó thaobh an tacaíocht atá ag teacht ón Eoraip do na fadhbanna ollmhóra atá againn mar gheall ar an eacnamaíocht agus ar an phaindéim lena bhfuilimid ag déileáil ag an bpointe seo. Cuireann sé iontas orm nach bhfuil an tAire, an Teachta Donohoe, anseo. Scríobh mé chuige ar an 23 Márta agus léirigh mé sa litir sin na prionsabail agus na polasaithe a bhí ag Sinn Féin ó thaobh an tsástacht a ba chóir a bheith ag an Stát mar …

Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an Teachta ag cuardach freagraí ach cuirfidh mé mo cheisteanna. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire, an Teachta Catherine Martin, agus leis an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Calleary. Go n-éirí an t-ádh leo. Is é an rud is tábhachtaí a bhfuil mé á iarraidh ón Aire Stáit ná níos mó acmhainní uaidh agus ón Aire sinsearach. Níl dabht ar bith nach bhfuil go leor anseo don Ghaeltacht, do na hoileáin agus d'Údarás na Gaeltachta, mar atá léirithe go soiléir ag an Teachta Ó Snodaigh. Scríobh mé ag an bheir…