Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for attending today's meeting. Young entrepreneurs have difficulties as they do not have credit ratings. How does the bank deal with them? Of its 16,000 start-up businesses what percentage were started by those aged under 24? Young entrepreneurs are the future of the economy. Does the bank advise customers, whether young entrepreneurs or other people applying for loans, on what else may be available outside of the banking sector and link with other sources of funding which may be available? Loan applications are rejected because of their quality. Is assistance provided by the banks in this regard? It was stated that capital is required to grow a business. The capital invested in Bank of Ireland was in a small number of hands, including the Government's. Is there a fear that a sudden pull-out by these investors and a sell-off of these shares could have a catastrophic effect on confidence in the bank? A problem associated with the Celtic tiger was that bank branches and individuals in branches had targets to meet with regard to selling insurance and other products, and these targets were associated with bonuses. Does this culture still exist or have we shifted from it? Has the link between targets and bonuses being broken? Mr. Boucher may have answered questions on how the bank deals with SMEs with property-related debts pulling them back. Their core businesses are successful but property has a stranglehold on them. Property developers and builders are also SMEs. We have a serious housing deficit in certain areas in the greater Dublin region. Last week it was reported that 8,000 properties were built last year but 25,000 are required. Does the bank see itself as having an input in stimulating the construction industry? It is time we matured and discussed this and were not fearful of what happened in the past because we have a need, particularly in the greater Dublin area.