Mr. Martin Shanahan:

I understand, Deputy. I may ask my colleague, Ms Maria Ginnity, to comment on it and what it does. As the Deputy rightly points out, the cost of finance in Ireland is higher than elsewhere. Some 31% higher is the estimate for loans up to €1 million and 27% higher for loans that exceed €1 million. To be fair, the Department of Finance is best placed to comment on what will happen around the strategic banking corporation but it is clear from what has already been announced that one of the intentions is to reduce the cost of finance to the ultimate recipient, that being the SME. We have yet to see the detail of how that will work through the credit institutions that will act as intermediaries for it.