Since 2020, Irish businesses - small and micro - have suffered because of Covid-19, the wars, the cost of living and now the refugee issue. Big Government is ruining small businesses. They complain to me about red tape and bureaucracy and the heavy-handed nature of the approaches from Revenue because of the warehousing of debt. The banks are not lending in the way they should and businesses are saying the decisions of Government are adding further to the cost of doing business in Ireland. I want to make a case to the Taoiseach for a special effort to be made by Government to reach out to the small and microbusinesses, which are part and parcel of every high street and main street in villages, towns and cities throughout the country. They give great employment and they are now suffering. I believe we will see a considerable number of businesses in difficulty over the course of the next year.

I assure the Deputy that I hear what he is saying. I spend a lot of time speaking to small businesses. That is my job. Even this morning, we were at a hub summit, which was about supporting, both financially and from a policy point of view, enterprise hubs around the country and helping small businesses to get on their feet and grow. We have never had more small businesses in the country. We have never had more people employed by small businesses than we have today but there are pressures that many small businesses are undoubtedly feeling with regard to the cost of doing business.

Through the Covid-19 pandemic and arising from the implications of the war on Ukraine for the cost of supply chains, energy and so on, the Government has provided hundreds of millions of euro in support for small businesses and will continue to do so. In the first quarter of next year, we will provide over €250 million to about 140,000 small businesses throughout the country in recognition of the increased cost of doing business.

I thank the Minister. We are over time.

This is a Government that is pro-enterprise, pro-business, pro-start-ups, pro-enterpreneurship-----

I am afraid I am pro-time.

-----and very conscious of the pressures that businesses face.