Ireland is at a disadvantage in recovering economically from the coronavirus outbreak by not having an export credit agency, according to the head of the exporters' representative body.
An export credit agency is a private or state backed institution that generally acts as an intermediary between government and exporters to issue guarantees for financing.
Simon McKeever, CEO of the Irish Exporters' Association, cited the example of Germany which issued a reinsurance scheme last week and said Ireland needed to follow suit.
"It would be vital to get that up and running in advance of a proper restart of the economy," he said.
There is a guarantee scheme available through the Strategic Banking Corporation. However, in a report last week, the stockbroker Davy described it as restrictive and time consuming.
It, too, called for the establishment of an export credit agency as a prerequisite for confidence returning to the sector.
The export sector was widely credited with kick-starting the recovery after the financial crash just over a decade ago.
Simon McKeever said the performance of the sector would be vital to the quality of the recovery this time around too.
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"A very large part of the economy is export driven. Demand will come back slowly, but we will need exports to bring the economy back to where it has been.
"Without a coordinated approach across financing it would be very difficult to get that back to level it's been at."
He said that the coordinated approach had to have an international element involving both the EU and the world's biggest economies.
"There is no point in us providing money to the sector if it's not reflected around the world because we're an internationally trading economy. It needs to be led by the EU and involve the G7 so that there is financing for goods provided all around the world," he concluded.
