Mr. Niclaus Bergmann:

For Ireland, we suggest a similar model to what exists in the EU. I do not know if this will be a big issue in the Competition Directorate General. There is a similar model to the SBCI in Germany, KfW, which is an on-lender and provides funds for specific purposes but does not lend directly to clients. Instead, it goes through a bank, sometimes involving risk-sharing with that bank. This can increase the outreach and capacity of certain lending programmes. KfW is competition neutral in Germany, which means all banks can use the programmes and funds it offers. A total of 89% of the banks which work with KfW and use its funds are Sparkassen and co-operative banks. The commercial banks are not interested in this type of on-lending as it is just not profitable enough for them.