Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Yes, if I may. Go raibh míle maith agat, a Chathaoirleach. I have found this extremely frustrating. The Minister used the word "hope" a good few times. It feels like the Government is a spectator in a market at the moment. The Government nearly has an ideological feeling that it does not have a right to engage and fix this particular issue, which is strange because at least one of the parties of Government sees itself as a party of the free market. This is not a free market; this is a dysfunctional market. The Minister mentioned the credit unions but it is long past the time we should have a concrete proposal from Government on how the credit unions will get into a position where they can be an additional force. This is not about looking into or considering this issue. This is the time for that plan to crystallise in terms of this discussion, rather than being in the future. The Minister mentioned interventions in the banking market with extra funding but that extra funding has gone through the pillar banks in the main, other than Microfinance Ireland, which provided approximately 1,000 loans last year, and that is small fry compared to the needs of small businesses throughout the country. This is having a significant effect on regional and rural Ireland. If we do not fix the dysfunction in the banking market right now, this will lead to further problems down the road. It will mean two pillar banks will harvest greater profits from their customers and provide fewer services to them for that profit. What are the Minister's specific plans for credit unions and for public banking systems?