State under fire for not accessing EU fund for firms

The Government has been criticised for failing to access an EU facility dedicated to helping small businesses and the unemployed.

Several EU states have taken advantage of the facility but Ireland — despite its unemployment crisis — is not one of them.

Sinn Féin jobs spokesman Peadar Toibín said it was “shocking” that the Coalition had not yet sought to tap the facility given the “epidemic level of business closure” here.