Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no rough figure for this. I will give it to the Deputy precisely.

It is a question we need to send back and get the actual spread on it. We will get it for the Deputy.

One of the reasons for the high rate of advice reverse by the Credit Review Office is because those who approach it believe they have a pretty good case and should not have been refused in the first instance. Those who go there are those who feel they were wronged so obviously there is a reasonably good success rate. However, the overall number approaching it is surprisingly low, and is not consistent with the theory that thousands of small businesses are not getting the capital they require. It is a mystery. The Credit Review Office has overturned approximately 100 decisions and the two pillar banks approved approximately 50,000 loans for small and medium enterprises and farms to the end of August this year. It is difficult to know. One of the problems with small businesses is that, like many sectors of society, as well as dealing with their core business they did a property play, and small businesses with absolutely nothing to do with property have an impaired property portfolio dragging down a core business which is solvent. We have been discussing with the banks whether they could separate the property portfolio from the core business and allow the core business to proceed and to capitalise it. In many cases such businesses are trading successfully but are being dragged down by the impairment. I am sure committee members know examples of this.