Mr. Fergal O'Brien:

I will start and then hand over to Mr. Donohoe and colleagues from the Small Firms Association.

Senator Mary White raised the issue of the access to credit. I am sure the Small Firms Association will have a view on this issue, but the experience of business is that access to credit is variable. In some sectors of the economy businesses are obtaining credit, whereas in other sectors it is much more difficult to access it. There is a great deal of credit rationing. The box might be ticked in terms of approval, but companies are not getting what they need to fully develop their plans, make an investment and get into the export market. Credit rationing and sector discrimination are the major issues. Some sectors are in vogue and do not have the same difficulty in obtaining credit, while others find it much more difficult to access it. It is not universal across the economy, but much depends on the sector in which the business is operating. It remains a significant constraint on growth. One only has to look at the published macro numbers to appreciate this. We do not have the credit flow required in the economy, which is limiting growth and job creation. That is the reason many of our members who have international experience see a State-backed investment bank as being an important part of the solution. If one looks at economies such as Germany and Canada, countries in which there is no credit crisis, they have long since had well established state-backed investment banks which have been incredibly successful, particularly in supporting those mid-sized companies which are trying to break into the export markets with ambitious investment plans.