Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will ask one more question. Ms Murray need not answer it today. She might come back on it.

I would be concerned that in Microfinance Ireland's category of refusals there must be persons who are over indebted. There is no doubt about that and she has told us that as well. Among them, there are also some good ideas of job creation. The country could be missing out on potential businesses, that might employ ten or 20, and that could become, for all I know, the next Lir Chocolates. Such persons fall through everyone's net. I would be interested to hear that there is a record kept on them. It is something we will discuss with the Minister. How do we find someone who cannot borrow any more money but who has a good idea and has a good business and who could be good? It is a shame for the State to miss out on that talent merely because there is a history of debt. Microfinance Ireland cannot solve the problem either, but we need to find a solution to what we do with those because we need them back in the country creating jobs. I am afraid that, with all the groups to whom we speak such as Microfinance Ireland, everyone's rule is that one cannot merely back them on the day and stay in it. We need to find some way of dealing with that because there are a number of them. At some stage, Ms Murray might provide an analysis of how many such persons we are talking about and their job creation potential if we could find a way of helping them. I do not expect a reply today, but she might reply, if possible, at a later stage.