Mattie McGrath calls for EU aid for small businesses and tighter borders
Mattie McGrath spoke on 15 Jul 2020 about the need for European financial supports and stricter border controls amid the Covid pandemic. He urged Europe to provide supports rather than loans and insisted small businesses and ordinary people must be protected from the economic fallout.
Call for EU financial supports
The speaker said the Taoiseach had his first meeting, but argued Ireland must assert itself in Europe to secure loans, bonds and supports. He insisted these should be supports rather than onerous loans, and criticised the last EU bailout when he said Ireland paid almost 6% interest.
Focus on ordinary people and SMEs
He emphasised that it is the ordinary people and small businesses who need assistance - naming pubs, undertakers, shopkeepers, hackneys, small contractors and delivery drivers. He said big companies are "fine" but small SMEs require targeted supports and easier access to funding.
Concerns about travel, airports and borders
He questioned aspects of the pandemic response and raised concerns about closing airports and ports to non-essential travellers. He said the public had taken punishment for the sake of frontline workers, but warned that tourists arriving from Covid hotspots is "madness" and argued for sealing borders to prevent further spread.
Impact on workforce and migration
The speaker warned the pandemic will make it more difficult for young people and the workforce to find work abroad and may force migration decisions. He stressed the need for supports at home to reduce forced emigration and economic hardship.
Praise for decisive national measures abroad
He singled out Hungary's president for praise, saying he admired the decisiveness of sealing borders and protecting the population, and argued other countries could learn from that approach.
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I'm glad that Taoiseach Martin had his first meeting, but it's time now that we asserted ourselves in Europe and that we insist that we get, you know, the loans and bonds and indeed not loans but supports that will assist us and assist all the different communities throughout the country, all the small SMEs especially. We can't, I don't often agree with my deputies on the left here, but I do agree with them, the big candidates and corporations. They're fine. They're all right, Jack. It's the ordinary people, the small businesses, the pubs, the undertakers, the shopkeepers, the hackneys, you name them, the small contractors, the man delivery with the van or whatever, they need the supports and they need to be able to get it and we need it and I'm not a big advocate of borrowing but we should get the money, not like the last EU bailout where we were, to the clean out I called it, we paid 6% almost interest to our EU masters. We've been exempt for Europeans, we've done everything they wanted and we've been the goodbyes to Europe. Now it's payback time. I know all of Europe is in the same situation and that makes it even more difficult for our young and for our workforce who may have to immigrate or want to immigrate, they won't be able to get work in a lot of places because of this pandemic. But I question this pandemic. I question it because if it's really serious, the teacher wants to be, the former teacher wanted to be good European and all the leaders meetings, I question them about closing the airports and the ports. To non-essential people, to tourists especially, our people have taken the punishment, taken the pain and we didn't mind doing it for the sake of our country, our people, our frontline workers. But now to see the tourists flooding in here, they're wanted here certainly most of the time but at the moment it's the island of the welcomes but Tommy, we're closed because coming in from hotspots of Covid is just madness and we will seal our borders and Hungary can do it. A lot of the parties here might attack the president in Hungary. I admire him. He did it and he kept the Covid out and he's looked after his people. So, go to Mark.
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