Ms Fiona Kilcullen:

A bank lending survey is done by the Central Bank of Ireland. There is also the Department of Finance's credit demand survey. They point in the same direction in that due to uncertainty over Covid-19 and Brexit, businesses are not borrowing. Indeed, some have been approved for loans but are waiting to reopen before they draw them down.

Surveys are taking place. The credit demand survey was recently carried out by the Department and published in November. The Central Bank of Ireland has published its recent report as well. It shows an expectation of a large increase in demand from SMEs for borrowing in the second half of this year.