Mr. John Moran:

I have two reactions. I would prefer if there were no decisions to be overturned. It is also very important to put in context what Deputy Donohoe has said. If our numbers are correct, 184,000 loan applications were made to banks. Of these, 160,000 were approved and credit was made available and 24,000, which is approximately 13%, were declined. The Deputy gave the correct number on those overturned but what is disappointing to us when we look at the process is how few people go to our Credit Review Office, which has a success rate of more than 50%. Low credit is a key economic issue. We are conducting a review to understand how to improve the Credit Review Office, but such an office has been established and has a success rate of approximately 50%. We do not understand why 97% of people who are refused credit do not use the Credit Review Office. I am concerned about drawing too many conclusions with respect to the numbers mentioned by the Deputy because they represent such a small sample of the total process. Part of the work we are doing with the small and medium enterprise funding body is to try to understand certain parts of the chain in particular. One of these is blockages in the system between a person going to the bank seeking credit and making a formal credit application. The success rate in the credit application process is relatively high.