Mr. John Trethowan:

In the report that was issued I outlined my concerns in respect of the banks' risk thresholds. I also acknowledged that the banks are lending to low and medium-risk SMEs. The latter are getting cash without many problems. The challenge lies with more distressed SMEs which could still be viable, either now or in the future. It is a struggle for such businesses to obtain credit. I am of the view that the banks could do a great deal better in respect of the process by means of which people access credit. At various meetings I attended during the past six months it emerged that in addition to the credit decision that was made, the experience of those involved was poor. The report indicates that the process has three stages. To a large extent, the first of these stages involves order-taking in respect of applications for amounts up to €250,000. A decision on such applications is taken remotely in Dublin, generally in a credit factory and by means of credit scoring. Then a letter - taken from a previously prepared menu of such letters - is sent out. A Red C survey indicated that 78% of people disagree with the reason for rejection listed on their letters. There is a lot more that could be done in this regard. Perhaps this is part of the reason people say banks are not lending. They may just have had a bad experience.