Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am not surprised by the banks. I hope the Minister and his officials will not be taken in by them. They have ridden roughshod across the general public for a long number of years. They are doing the same thing in this regard. I understood the loans were to be structured in such a way that people who wanted an interest-only loan for a number of years, could do that. Obviously I would not advise that, because I believe one is better off to get tickling at the capital, if that is at all possible.

In fairness to the Minister, this is a worthwhile scheme and time has been spent in framing it, however it is useless if the banks are behaving as banks do notwithstanding that they have two floors of foundations under them rather than one. Are the banks not making money from this scheme? I am sure they are making money from it. Banks never do anything without making money. This is such a successful scheme, however a number of farmers would benefit if the Minister could widen its availability, particularly in terms of what is up ahead. Would the Minister consider expanding this scheme? I know that the downturn in prices for tillage in the past number of years has brought this scheme to the fore. I genuinely hope the Minister might extend it.

The banks appear to be found wanting again, but that is no surprise to me. The promises and commitments they make are just rhetoric. I believe the scheme should be subject to detailed evaluation and assessment. The Department together with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland should have a major input into this assessment, it should not be left to SBCI alone. Deputy D'Arcy is correct in asking for the reasons that loans were refused and the number of refusals. It should not be a two liner, but a detailed response on the reasons that low interest loans were refused. How will we help those in need who were refused low interest loans?