Mr. John Trethowan:

We do not have bank policies on solvency, gearing and security. The one question we ask on any application is whether the bank will lose money. If the answer to that is that they do not think so we will support it. That is the only policy we have, and that is where many of the loan applications are failing because they cannot tick all the boxes.

As I explained to the Deputy earlier, we disaggregate the problem from the core business and see if the core business is viable. We are also keen to know the number of jobs that are at risk each time and if there are jobs at risk we will do everything we can to try to save that business.

We have a small team of about eight, including Ms Catherine Collins and myself. Five of us are very experienced bankers. Ms Collins is an experienced public sector analyst. My bankers are not order takers the way that has developed in our branch, business centres and banks where people take down details and send them to someone in Dublin for a credit decision. We talk to the customer. From time to time when we put in an application the bank will come back to us and say it did not know that because the person never told it. We have experienced lenders who will talk to them and when information starts to come out it makes the deal doable.

When we submit an opinion, it follows a standard and very recognisable format. We examine the strategic background of the business in question, its location, what it does and the experience of the promoters, both in business and in what they do. We consider the amount of existing lending and the statement of assets. We determine whether there are buy-to-let properties and the serviceability. We also determine the viability of the proposal from the borrower's perspective. We ask whether it will credibly generate the cash to repay the loan. The banks know what is coming each time and it depends on how it will look. It is through examining all these factors that we can change a decision by a bank.

I am sure the banks do not like our decisions in some cases. As with all loans, some will be bad; a feature of lending money is that one does not get it all back. I am sure that when loans go wrong, banks will point the finger and say John Trethowan told us to lend it.

I have been critical about the banks in my last couple of reports in respect of enterprise risk-taking. I am sure that, at times, the banks wished my office did not exist. However, that is part of the job. Banks should never be too comfortable with the Credit Review Office. They have always co-operated with us. They have had real problems with two of our opinions. We listened to their views and had to accept them. In one case, the deal in question was still viable but it turned out there were many planning-permission problems associated with the property for which finance was sought. Therefore, the bank's reason for not advancing the money was understandable. We accepted its view.