Mr. Fergal O'Brien:

There are difficulties. The situation is not the same across the board and is significantly threatening to limit the viability of some companies. We have stated this clearly, as has the SFA.

The State-backed investment idea is an important one. In the ten years before the crisis, the economy was exclusively reliant on the banks to fund business growth which was completely out of line with the averages across Europe. Elsewhere in Europe there is a much broader range of financing tools available to businesses. Irish businesses just went to the bank manager and it was easy to get the money, but that is all Irish businesses did. We need to broaden the financing options and models available. I gave the example of making sure the enterprise investment scheme, EIS, actually worked. If we could only get a fraction of the money that went into property speculation for supporting the creation of real jobs and businesses, great things would be achieved in the small and medium-sized enterprise, SME, sector. The tax system also has a role to play in making this happen.

On the State-backed investment bank idea, I am conscious that it would take several years to get that up and running, as there would be complex state-aid issues. However, even after this crisis, we will need such a bank. It is worth investing three years into such a project because it will be important in completing the financing options available to mid-sized companies.

On the point about ESRI research, this is the third time the ESRI has published different numbers on this topical issue.