Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for facilitating me. I have a significant interest in this issue. I left the meeting of the PAC to attend this meeting because I want to support the process. I have been following the issue, along with my colleague, Deputy Penrose, who has also taken a big interest in this and has written about it and raised it in the Dáil. He expressed his love of the Department of Finance on a few occasions publically. All my questions have more or less been asked so I have a few observations and just one or two questions.

I despise the words "best practice". When I see the words in reports or other documentation, it annoys me because I do not believe in it. There is practice, which one can learn from, and then there are circumstances. I am very pleased it has been outlined here that we cannot pick up what is being done in Germany and put it here in Ireland because our circumstances are very different. There are many different reasons for that - social, legacy, and psychological issues among others - but we can take the practice, which is very good, and a proven model, and bring it into Ireland, mould it, shape it and use it. That is what I want to see happen because I fundamentally believe that it is completely necessary. We have a disparity in this country between the pillar banks and credit unions and there is a big vacuum in the middle which is giving rise to many issues.

A gentleman came into my office recently who owns a shop near it. He applied for a loan and was turned down. His case was reviewed and he did everything he could. He just wants to expand. His small business is a moderate success. The review said the bank should give him his loan and the office found against the bank. The bank made an offer then which was completely unacceptable, on purpose, and he is now going through the end of the process. I believe he will probably write to you, Chairman, as an example. The case is going on for years. It is necessary that we do something about this area and I am pleased it is in the programme for Government.

I have serious issues with the Department of Finance. I had them when I was a Minister and I still have them in terms of pace and decision making. There is serious negativity in some quarters of the Department of Finance about this process. My first question relates to that and the witnesses' interactions with the Department. Could they break them down for us?

My second question relates to the European Investment Bank and how it lends to SMEs. Do the witnesses use that? I agree with what was said about credit unions and their role. Is there a role for the post office network, and how? I apologise if that question has been asked as I was attending another committee meeting. I am trying to avoid repeating the other questions that were asked.

When will this famous report be published? There is no better man than the Chairman to put pressure on to get the report out. If we had utopia, which does not exist and never will, and we got a decision tomorrow morning which was very much in favour of this process, in terms of the witnesses' capacity to help us, are there any issues we should know about? My colleague asked about next steps and, in fairness, they were outlined. Are there any issues we should be aware of in relation to the scale of this project or anything that would impact on it?

My questions are varied as I do not wish to repeat anything that has been said but I do not think anyone asked about timelines. When the report comes out, there will be engagement with the Central Bank and the Department of Finance. We will have to pass legislation and meet the requirements of the Central Bank rules in terms of capital ratios and everything else. The rolling out process will commence then. We will probably take a demonstration area, probably in the midlands but it might dip down into north Tipperary if that is possible. How will the process work and what are the timelines?