Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Noonan and his colleagues for coming and giving us some understanding of the problems encountered in the area. I do not think the Small Firms Association will find a solution by asking the Government to put its hands in its pocket to do anything. I was delighted to hear some of the things Mr. Noonan said, but when he refers to enhanced Government funding, I do not think it will happen. If we have entrepreneurs in Ireland, all we need to do is to find some way or other to give them their head and remove boundaries that may restrict them. One proposal - the Government has taken the first small step towards it - is that people should be able to release their cash from their pensions which they could spend on improvements to their houses or shops. Asking the Government to do something is not going to solve the problem, apart from asking it to remove restrictive barriers. If these are the words Mr. Noonan has been using, it seems that it is likely to happen on that basis.

Why have relationships with the banks deteriorated? Can anything be done to encourage the banks to change and do something about this? Mr. Noonan spoke about optimism and confidence on the horizon, which sounds as if they should give the banks the ability to change. I can understand why they have cut back on their costs, but we practically own some of them. We want to ensure they succeed but not by asking them to release all control. The SFA has the necessary ability if more money was available in the economy.