I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach visited Leitrim village earlier this week. Those who were with him on the day saw that he spent time there, saw the damage for himself and listened to people. He said that assistance would be available quickly. He said it would be available "today or tomorrow". I know that the Department of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has humanitarian assistance available for households. I hope it is available straight away. However, my specific question is about what interim funding - not loans, but supports - are available for businesses to help them get up and running. It seems that many people may be underinsured because of the huge cost of insurance. If, for example, they are underinsured by 30%, then regardless of the size of their claim, big or small, they lose 30% of their claim. That is a major issue that applies not only to the people of Leitrim village, but they are the people facing it now.

I have spoken to the Taoiseach on a number of occasions about his meeting with the businesses and households in Leitrim who were hit by the devastating weather event. We are anxious to be as helpful as we can. Supports from the Department of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, are open to households. I asked Mircrofinance Ireland to send an official down to Leitrim to speak to businesses to see if we can try to make short-term money available for businesses. That has happened. We are working with Mircrofinance Ireland to try to ensure that low-cost loan facilities will be available before the end of the year. I understand there was an indication that they might not be available until January so we are working to try to make that happen much faster. We must build an understanding of the responsibility of the insurance industry and companies that provide insurance to provide a clearer picture for how best we can help businesses.