Vol. 854 No. 3
1. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps being taken to implement his Department’s policy statement on foreign direct investment; if recent developments in respect of Ireland’s corporation tax regime have impacted on this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39377/14]
As this is the first Question Time with the new ministerial team, I wish the Ministers of State, Deputies Gerald Nash and Damien English, every success in their new roles and acknowledge the work done by Deputy John Perry and the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, in the Department.
Will the Minister outline the changes to our corporation tax regime since Tuesday? Will he confirm the reports in The Irish Times this morning that he has launched what it calls a co-ordinated campaign of letters and telephone calls but which everybody else would call spin and a panic reaction? Will he also confirm whether the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, is involved in the campaign?
The question tabled is slightly different from that just asked by the Deputy.
Recent developments.
I presume the context remains the same. The question refers to the Department’s policy statement on foreign direct investment which was published at the end of July. It sets out the strategic direction for foreign direct investment to 2020 and the 14 areas of strategic action needed to enhance Ireland’s attractiveness and business environment in the context of intensified international competition for investment and talent. Some are focused specifically on the work of IDA Ireland, in relation to which IDA Ireland is in the process of preparing its corporate strategy for the years 2015 to 2020 which will be launched early next year and on which I am working closely with it. Other areas for strategic action focus on building Ireland's strengths in key sectors, aligning our research prioritisation with other supporting elements to build sustainable clusters. This is being factored into the work of Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. It will receive further attention in our forthcoming policy reviews of enterprise and science, technology and innovation.
As the Deputy acknowledged, in the budget announced this week we have moved to provide the certainty and competitive advantage needed to ensure our corporate tax regime is well positioned to win more foreign investment in a changing international tax environment. The statement on foreign direct investment also underlines the importance of work throughout government to develop and reinforce aspects that differentiate Ireland’s offering in a context of intensive global competition for mobile investment. These include the need for a national talent drive and a range of attractive regional alternatives for mobile investment and talent, with competitive infrastructures to support them. Implementation in all of these areas will be vigorously pursued through the process for An Action Plan for Jobs.
With regard to the specific questions on corporate tax, I strongly welcome the decision of the Minister for Finance to introduce a wide range of reforms in respect of our corporate tax structure. These include the introduction of a knowledge development box, improved provisions for research and development, improved conditions for capital allowances in respect of intellectual property and an improved provision to allow strategic personnel to be brought to Ireland to develop key elements of growing businesses. These are very exciting developments in our tax code and naturally we are taking every opportunity to promote them vigorously with our clients. They arise in the context of the base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, process, which, as the Deputy knows, has signalled significant change in the international tax environment. It includes changes to double structures and part of this announcement is a lead-in time of six years within which the existing double structures in Ireland will be ended.
I welcome the introduction of the knowledge development box which has huge potential. I have always wondered about moving our investment in research and development into reality. The BEPS process is under way and may not finish for at least 12 months, but we have declared our hand right at the beginning of it. We have raised the white flag because of pressure from competitor countries for foreign direct investment. We have immediately rolled over and in so doing for the first time have shown a weakness in our defence of corporate tax. On Tuesday the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, defended the 12.5% rate, but the reality is that he rolled over very early on other elements of the BEPS process. This will be used against us by competitor countries in providing certainty for those who want to invest.
Is the Minister for Finance involved in the co-ordinated campaign of letters and phone calls referred to in The Irish Times today? Can the Minister describe the tone of the conversations he had yesterday? I understand that he cannot go into the specifics. What plans do the Minister and the Ministers of State in his Department have, apart from the scheduled trade visit to the United States in two weeks, to drive this message home?
The Deputy knows that the international environment for tax provisions is changing. What we are doing here is moving ahead of the competition. We are anticipating those changes and putting Ireland in a position to provide certainty to our investors and to have best-in-class competitive tax structures. The Minister for Finance has signalled that he will legislate next year for a best-in-class knowledge development box. That will, as Deputy Calleary has said, give Ireland an edge in this area.
We are also providing certainty. There is no doubt that there has been considerable uncertainty around double structures in light of the discussions internationally. We have now moved to end Ireland's double structure for new investors by January 2015 and we have provided a six-year period during which those companies that currently have such structures need to adjust. We have given them the certainty of a long lead-in time. They now know where the landing position will be. Clearly, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, will be involved in explaining the new tax structure during international visits, as will my Department. I will take advantage of next week's visit to the United States to explain it. I believe it is an excellent news story and will win additional foreign investment for Ireland.
The reality is that we are at the start of a process and the Minister has declared our hand. The base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, process could go on for a long time, and many of our competitors may not go as far as we have. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for Finance could learn a thing or two from people like John O'Shea when it comes to fighting for our interests and standing up for ourselves without declaring our hand right at the beginning of the game.
Deputy Calleary is seeking to present this in a very distorted way. We are taking a competitive lead in this area. We will have a best-in-class knowledge box and the best environment for bringing talent to Ireland to engage in research and development from an Irish base.
We could have had all of that anyway.
We will have certainty for those companies that have been using taxation structures whose days are clearly numbered. They will have a long lead-in time to deal with that. We are offering a very competitive environment that in a post-BEPS world will make us a country that is best placed to win international investment.
2. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the workplace relations Bill will provide protections for workers employed by subcontractors engaged in exploitative work practices. [39379/14]
Guím gach rath ar na hAirí ar fad agus ar an bhfoireann nua. I tabled this question to determine whether the forthcoming workplace relations Bill will provide protection to workers, especially those employed by subcontractors engaged in exploitative work practices. In that context, I want to make particular reference to the ongoing publicly funded Kishoge Community College building project. As the Minister of State will be aware, a large number of workers have had their livelihoods significantly damaged by practices there and I want to find out what the provisions of the new Bill will do for those individuals.
I thank Deputy Tóibín for his question. As he will be aware, the ongoing programme that the Government is currently implementing to reform the State’s existing workplace relations structures is at quite an advanced stage. While considerable progress has been achieved to date on an administrative basis, the enactment of the workplace relations Bill is a crucial step in achieving the aim of delivering a modern, user-friendly, world-class workplace relations system. The Bill will provide for a range of enhanced compliance measures, including the use of compliance notices, fixed payment notices and a new more robust mechanism for enforcing awards of the workplace relations commission, WRC, adjudicators and Labour Court determinations. This represents a very significant development for working people and will give teeth to the system. It will enhance confidence in the workplace relations system and ensure that the response from the WRC to complaints is proportionate.
The workplace relations Bill is primarily concerned with the establishment of new structures and associated processes. The Bill will provide for the establishment of a new two-tier workplace relations structure comprising two statutorily independent bodies, replacing the current five. The Bill does not propose any substantive changes to existing legislation governing the employment rights of workers. Therefore, the protections currently available to workers under the existing corpus of employment rights legislation will continue to apply to all workers, including workers employed by subcontractors. There is universal application of all of the employment legislation to workers of every description. This existing body of employment law is robust and covers a comprehensive range of employment rights and entitlements which apply to all workers, whether part-time or full-time and whether employed by a subcontractor or another class of employer. Furthermore, the legislation is backed up by a proactive labour inspectorate.
Should employees consider that their statutory employment rights are not being complied with, they should contact workplace relations customer service for information about seeking redress.
As the Minister of State knows, the workers at the Kishoge Community College site have effectively been locked out of their place of employment because a subcontractor has demanded that they register as self-employed and accept excessively low rates of pay. Some of the rates we have heard of are less than €5 per hour or €20 per day. To be blunt, the Government's response so far has been overly bureaucratic. Indeed, I would argue that the Government has washed its hands of this issue. For months now, men with families have been outside their place of work doing their damnedest to draw attention to what is going on, but the Government is doing nothing about this issue. The citizens of this country who are purchasing this site and having the building done on their behalf through the State need to know that the work is being done in a way that respects common decency. They need to be assured that the law will ensure that these individuals get a proper day's pay for a day's work.
With all due respect to Deputy Tóibín, that is not the question he originally tabled, which asked about subcontractors engaged in exploitative work practices. That said, I am very happy to respond to the supplementary question he has just posed. I know that Deputy Tóibín has a particular interest in this case, as do I, and we discussed it briefly at a recent meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. While I am reluctant to comment in individual cases, I know that the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social Protection and the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, have had a presence on the aforementioned site and have investigated complaints made to them. I have been in contact with Deputy Tóibín by letter in respect of the broad issue to which he refers. The Deputy will be aware that it is the remit of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection to clarify the status of employees and it is the responsibility of the Revenue Commissioners to deal with the issuing of certification in respect of self-employment. All information received by my Department or NERA in this regard is forwarded to them for their attention. In that regard, I have forwarded correspondence from Deputy Tóibín to both the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection.
It is important to point out that this must be viewed in the context of the re-establishment of the registered employment agreement system. This Government is committed to re-establishing that system and we are making significant progress in that regard.
I understand that the Minister of State is working on particular projects and I am trying to ascertain whether those projects will close off all possibility of this type of exploitation in the future. We have had a collapse in the construction industry and that collapse has led to an over-abundance of skilled construction workers who are unemployed and claiming social welfare. As a result, some employers have engaged in very sharp practices based on the principle of using the crisis to their own benefit. They have been exploiting individuals who are hungry for work and forcing them to work under improper pay terms and conditions. The situation at Kishoge Community College is an example of this and the dispute there has been going on for many weeks. Sinn Féin has asked for an urgent investigation into the circumstances there. Are the investigations by the Revenue Commissioners and NERA to which the Minister of State referred complete yet? If they are not complete, when are they expected to be completed? Where is the urgency on this? The people concerned are locked out of the site and winter is fast approaching.
The Government must review all of the projects under its remit and ensure that the contractors and subcontractors are behaving reasonably. If the key investigations are not complete, will the Minister of State commit to their completion ASAP?
Investigations can only be completed and the issues fully examined with complete information. I appeal to everyone who claims to have information to bring it to the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, the Revenue Commissioners and other relevant agencies-----
It has been nearly two months since the Revenue Commissioners were out there.
-----and to work proactively with the inspectorate and bodies that are addressing this matter.
Deputy Tóibín is right. With the construction industry starting to climb again, we have seen an increase in the use of subcontractors by the sector's major employers. I reiterate the importance of re-establishing the registered employment agreement, REA, system. Its collapse provided the opportunity for some of these difficulties to arise. Its re-establishment could improve standards across the sector and is supported by the Construction Industry Federation, CIF, which is a major player on the employers' side, and the trade union sector. The drafting process is advancing and is one of my top priorities as Minister of State with responsibility for business and employment. We will have a pre-legislative scrutiny opportunity at the joint Oireachtas committee in the coming weeks to advance it further.
3. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in view of Ireland’s continued fall down the competitiveness rankings, the policies being developed to improve our competitiveness relative to countries with which we compete; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39381/14]
This question regards our competitiveness, which is a mixed bag. With regard to Ireland's competitiveness index, relative to ourselves, we have done significantly better since the start of the recession, with factor input costs decreasing. Compared globally, however, we are doing worse every year. The World Economic Forum, WEF, places us 27th this year, down from 22nd in 2007. While we are getting more competitive relative to ourselves, we are rapidly becoming less competitive relative to other countries. What is being done in this regard? Are there targets? Is the Minister satisfied with our position and trajectory?
It has been well catalogued that Ireland lost a considerable amount of competitiveness between 2000 and 2010. Since 2011, Ireland's international competitiveness rankings have improved in the International Institute for Management Development's World Competitiveness Yearbook from 24th to 15th and from 29th to 25th in the WEF global competitiveness report. This is the third consecutive year that our position has improved in the WEF rankings and contrasts with a period of declining competitiveness experienced in the years up to 2011.
According to the WEF, Ireland ranks ahead of other advanced countries in categories such as institutions, labour market efficiency and the goods market. Ireland's scores are weakest in the macroeconomic environment category, which is driven by Government debt and borrowing. These weaknesses are being addressed through Government macroeconomic policies and the ongoing focus on improving the performance of financial institutions. At the report's launch, the WEF noted that Ireland's ranking was improving due to the structural reforms that were under way. Many of these messages were echoed in the recent annual EU member states competitiveness report, with Ireland named as one of only four member states with high and improving competitiveness.
Competitiveness has been a key theme in the Action Plan for Jobs since its inception. The plan has developed initiatives across the spectrum to improve competitiveness, including reforms to make wage-setting mechanisms more adaptable and measures to improve access to finance, to make it easier to establish, operate and expand a business, to deliver a supply of competitive skills to growing sectors, to reduce business costs and to enhance the ease of doing business.
The National Competitiveness Council, NCC, has been reconstituted with the addition of new industry partners. Recognising that competitiveness is a national economic priority, we have put in place a process under which the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and jobs considers a report on competitiveness on a quarterly basis. This has placed an enhanced focus on the practical changes that can be implemented to improve our national competitiveness. As in previous years, measures to enhance our competitiveness will be a core element of the Action Plan for Jobs in 2015.
I thank the Minister for his reply. The NCC's figures on our global rankings differ slightly from the Minister's. They do not show us moving at all. According to the Forfás report, for example, we were ranked 21st or so at the start of the crisis and are now 28th. I accept the Minister's point that some of the decrease has been driven by the macroeconomic instability, but examining the microeconomic drivers shows a worrying decline in the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings, which are entirely on the micro side and cover such matters as red tape, regulation and so forth. From memory, it ranked us at seventh or eighth in the world in 2007, whereas we are 15th or so now. We are sliding down the macro and micro competitiveness rankings.
I accept that the Minister has taken real actions. Is he happy with the trajectory? Could more be done? Are there large ideas or policies to which he did not refer and that have not been introduced yet that could be implemented within the next year and a half?
It is true that we have improved in the competitiveness rankings in the past three or four years. Compared with where we were prior to the crisis, much has changed, including in our public finances. There has been tangible progress in certain respects. Unit wage costs have improved relative to our competitors by approximately 20% and property costs have improved dramatically. We have improved across a spectrum, but there are always other areas in which we could improve.
The Deputy was right to draw attention to the ease of starting a business, which is a specific focus of ours. We are ranked 115th for dealing with construction permits and 100th for getting electricity connections, although we believe there may be some inaccurate reporting of the ease of getting some of these services. However, we must improve. We have put teams in place to consider some of the matters in respect of which we are at the wrong end of the spectrum. We are taking steps to address them. We are good in other areas. For example, the Revenue Commissioners come out of the process high on the list and the Companies Registration Office, CRO, has reduced by half the time it takes to establish a company. We are making progress and will focus specifically on all of the areas that affect start-ups.
I have not checked to see whether the next matter I wish to raise is covered in the budget, but the Competition Authority is under-funded. As we all know, there is cartel behaviour in some sectors, but I will not go into the allegations. The troika showed us professional fees decreasing during the recession with one divergent line increasing, namely, legal fees. There appears to be an opportunity to create a robust Competition Authority. According to previous heads of the authority who spoke freely after leaving, it was hopelessly under-resourced to do the job that needed to be done. Has more funding been provided to the Competition Authority in the budget? If not, will the Minister make a case for same in future?
I am glad to report that we received sanction last year to strengthen the Competition Authority. It is taking on new enforcement staff and ten effective resources. This year, we also strengthened the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE. As such, and in sympathy with the concerns expressed by the Deputy, we have strengthened both agencies that ensure good corporate and market performance.
4. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount of loans guaranteed to date under the credit guarantee scheme; his plans to review the scheme to improve its take-up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39089/14]
This is the second anniversary of the credit guarantee scheme. It has not worked. The legislation to reform it is on the A list. Will the Minister guarantee that the legislation will be before the House prior to the Christmas recess? Will he indicate the kinds of change he proposes to make via that legislation?
The Deputy was unavoidably unable to attend, but we had an opportunity to present to the committee last week. We are seeking to proceed with the legislation with all haste.
The small to medium-sized enterprise, SME, guarantee scheme was launched in October 2012 in response to numerous calls from business interests. In the Irish context, it is a novel scheme that is continuing to develop a position in the financial arena. As of 30 June 2014, the SME credit guarantee scheme had 93 live facilities, resulting in €12.2 million being sanctioned through the scheme by the participating lenders and 468 new jobs being created and 236 being maintained. A further five loans had been fully repaid at that date, amounting to €450,000, which supported 33 new jobs and maintained ten.
As the Deputy is aware, I commissioned an independent review of the scheme which was submitted to me in the third quarter of last year. My Department has since worked to determine the improvements that can be made to the 2012 Act. I have prioritised this work and the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2014 is now on the A list of the autumn legislative programme. We are working on the draft Bill with officials from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. Some of the proposed amendments it will address include: extending the maximum length of the guarantee from three to seven years; providing for a wider range of financial products to be covered, not just traditional credit products - for instance, invoice finance, factoring, leasing and overdrafts; providing for a wider range of providers of financial products to be eligible, that is, not just licensed banks; increasing the level of guarantee on individual loans from 75% to 80% and the portfolio cap from 10% to 13%; and removing the requirement for a formal decline letter. This revision is in accordance with the Government's policy to support access to finance for SMEs. I hope the Bill will be in the House before the end of the session.
Its partner scheme, the microfinance scheme, has been completely revitalised in the past few months and Mr. Michael Johnson is to be credited for bringing a new energy to it. That shows what could be done with this scheme. I want an absolute commitment that the Bill will be brought forward before the Christmas recess because this scheme needs to be given urgency. For those businesses which have loans with banks that are putting inordinate pressure on them to repay them or make other arrangements to facilitate their easy exit from the market, will the Minister consider opening the credit guarantee scheme to them to give them some breathing space in order that they can grow their businesses without pressure from banks that no longer have any interest in this country?
I will certainly consider that suggestion. We will make legislative provision for it, but it will require state aid approval if we extend support to SMEs dealing with banks which are exiting. There is another step besides improving the legislation.
The Deputy is right that one of the lessons we have learned is that the way in which banks manage internally the credit guarantee scheme and the way in which we promote it are areas in which we can do better. We will actively promote the scheme, as opposed to what we were doing previously, that is, providing the back office. We have also identified methods within the banking system to give more oxygen to the credit guarantee. The legislative changes we are introducing are essential to drive that new offering. I regard it as a priority and we will push ahead as rapidly as we can.
The review was also damning in regard to the complicated nature of accessing the scheme and the paperwork involved. Does the Minister have thoughts about reducing the paperwork and the complications?
Clearly, it is up to banks in terms of the application of the scheme. The paperwork is not what has held it back. In my view and that of the review group, the real impediments have been some of the conditions attached. A three year loan is not sufficient. We will streamline the scheme, but the formal letter of decline was an impediment and we are removing it. There are elements which have put barriers in the way of those using the scheme and we are trying to remove them. The scheme is working and the paperwork side is reasonably okay, but some of the elements have been unnecessary obstacles which we are seeking to remove.
5. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the total level of new credit facilities created for enterprises in the past four years and the draw-down to date. [39085/14]
I cannot believe we are still talking about the issue of credit, given that we are three and a half years into the life of this Administration. One in four SMEs is in arrears for more than 90 days. The total loan balance in arrears is at 41%, which is a colossal brake on the development of the economy and people's lives. Despite the contortions of the Government in the past few years, we have only seen a very modest improvement in recent times. There is a necessity for the Government to make credit flow. To do this, it needs to solve the problem of businesses in debt distress.
As I stated previously, the Government has made more than €2 billion in financial supports available to Irish SMEs to support growth and job creation in the economy. Through the seed and venture capital scheme 2013 to 2018, the microenterprise loan fund and the renewed credit guarantee scheme, we are making more than €1.6 billion available in the coming years to SMEs through both credit facilities and direct investments. In addition, the Government, through the National Pension Reserve Fund, made €850 million available from 2013 through its three SME funds. It introduced the credit guarantee scheme and the microenterprise loan fund in 2012 which have now been operating for two years, as discussed with Deputy Dara Calleary. The next progress reports, to 30 September 2014, will be published shortly. As of 30 June, the credit guarantee scheme had 93 live facilities, resulting in €12.2 million being sanctioned through the scheme. Microfinance Ireland had approved 258 applications, to the value of €4.11 million.
In regard to other new sources of funding for SMEs, the seed and venture capital funds invested €75 million in 2013. The development capital funds have commenced investments and it is anticipated that they will invest €62.5 million this year. Later this year the Strategic Bank Corporation of Ireland will commence offering new credit lines to SMEs. Banks remain a core source of funding for SMEs. The latest figures show that new lending to small business is growing and that the rate of bank refusals is falling.
Credit will continue to be an issue, but as the economy improves, we envisage that the Government will increasingly see our strong companies attracting credit. There will continue to be a very strong focus on ensuring access to finance across the spectrum is available to SMEs. We will not be able to rely so much on banks and will have to have these alternative sources to sustain our continued recovery.
One can make hundreds of billion of euro available to the economy, but unless it is accessible to businesses, in practice, it will not find its way into the bloodstream of the economy. I refer to the ISME credit survey carried out in September. The figure for delays in making bank decisions on applications was at 21%. Some 18% of initial bank decisions were made within one week, which marked a deterioration. On average, the time taken to make an initial decision had increased to just over six weeks. Some 35% of respondents had had increases in bank charges imposed on them, while 21% had suffered increased interest rates. Reductions in overdrafts had been demanded of 21% of businesses, while some 69% stated the Government was having either a negative or no impact on SME lending. Some 40% knew about the microfinance scheme, down from 44% in the previous quarter. As I said, it is about accessibility as well as availability. We need to ensure credit gets into the bloodstream of society.
I will make two points. Across the schemes €150 million in new facilities has been put in place by my Department alone under the Government's initiatives. This is very significant. New finance from the banking sector is only at €2 billion. We are making a significant impact in that we now have the Strategic Bank Corportation of Ireland and the SME funds from the National Pension Reserve Fund. Therefore, we have two other sources being rolled out.
Those who are refused loans should appeal to the Credit Review Office and seek an appeal by the bank because in 70% of cases in which decisions are questioned these decisions are reversed either by the bank or the Credit Review Office. The Credit Review Office is a really important tool to support the SMEs that are having the bad experiences about which the Deputy spoke. It is an ally which should be used more. As only 3% of all those refused challenge the decisions, 97% walk away.
We need these refusals to be challenged. We also need to promote the new sources of finance we now have. They will be enhanced significantly this year.
There is a massive disconnect between the size of the problem, the ambition of the Government and the delivery of the Government. The Government's delivery is nowhere near its ambition, which in turn is nowhere near the actual problem itself. We heard a number of SME proposals in the budget. They are resuscitations of proposals the Government has previously made but are not working. The volume of loans guaranteed under the credit guarantee scheme is a fraction of the level the Government said it wanted to achieve. Some €15 million has been provided to 110 companies, which have created 870 jobs. It was initially supposed to be a €450 million scheme. The Minister suggested that the Government has provided €150 million, but this is just a fraction of what one scheme was meant to deliver. Just 186 companies have benefitted from the employment and investment incentive scheme. We still have not been able to find out how many jobs were created from this scheme in 2012. I am trying to urge the Government to get to grips with the exact size of the problems in society before matching its response to that size.
Our ambition is huge. I believe that during 2015 we will exceed our target of 100,000 additional people at work. The vast majority of those jobs will be created in small and medium-sized enterprises. We are also ambitious when it comes to driving access to finance as a means of resuscitating the growth of companies. This is the first Government to have put innovative funds in place right across the spectrum. Some €6.5 billion in funds - €4 billion from the banks and the €2.5 billion that is already in place - are available.
They are available but they are not accessible.
They are being rolled out as we speak. As I have indicated, over €150 million from my own few funds is going out the door. That compares with €2 billion in new lending from the whole banking system. These significant and ambitious changes are changing the landscape of choices that are available to SMEs as they grow. That is the environment we are now in. We are putting in place well-tailored instruments to help these businesses to grow. As the Deputy knows, the banking corporation is looking at export finance and at specialist instruments to ensure it is well aligned with the needs of companies.
