Mr. David Duffy:

Professor Kelly gave an assessment of the situation in respect of SMEs. I have no issue with the observation that there would be an impact if we were to do what he said and that we would end up damaging SMEs. As I sit in the committee with the ECB, the reality is that its primary objective in carrying out stress tests is to guarantee the transition mechanism to support SMEs, as this is central to the growth of Europe. It may look different from the outside, but the comments made by Mario Draghi and his committee colleagues consistently relate to what they need to do to get lending going into SMEs, both domestically and across borders. As an academic exercise it may be construed one way, but on the practical level on the ground, I am more comfortable that the SME universe will not be negatively affected as articulated.

We have been working with Government members and other institutions and bodies to map housing demand across the country for the right type of house in the right place, and to look at issues such as NAMA land supply, the appropriate volume of planning permissions or whether they are relevant to their location. We have worked with the Construction Industry Federation to look at the labour supply and the relevant skills. We also have given our own commitment to support construction and the mortgages associated with it. That is coming to a conclusion now, and all the parties will be able to make sure that we build into the demand cycle at an appropriate level and cost for the next few years. Things will level out and demand will not create too many bubbles, as supply will be coming on stream over the next few years.