Professor Patrick Honohan:

There have been discussions in the UK context regarding the practices of the banks in dealing with SME borrowers. It was alleged that they dealt very harshly with them and looked more to the question of generating fees for those involved rather than the viability of the firms. We have noticed this and were concerned that this would not affect the subsidiaries of such institutions in Ireland. There is ongoing work on that. Allegations have been made about SME lending and clean-up of SME loans. One hears this all the time. I would very much like to get concrete evidence because I know that we are dealing with the banks that are a going concern and are making sure their SME restructuring and resolving practices are very good. Informally, I would like any information the Senator has.