Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the senior staff from his Department. I wish to raise two general issues. With the standing down of the 35 city and county enterprise boards - I know their performances were mixed - was there any general assessment of how they fared? Obviously, some did well while others did not. I think people would like to have access to that kind of knowledge, in particular in terms of passing on the good learning to the new structures.

The issue of funding has been raised already. Funding is the lifeblood of small and medium-sized enterprises. The criticisms of the banks are like a refrain from an old ballad in that they just go on and on. Presumably much of this criticism is valid but where would the Minister say it is not valid? If it is valid, as most people instinctively feel it is, when will it end? We have been promised action and that the next initiative would be the one. Where are we in regard to the demand for the lifeblood of small and medium-sized enterprises? When will we reach a point when the demand is matched by the supply so that this vital sector gets a chance to perform to its potential in terms of job creation and so on?