Mr. Patrick Farrell:

I thank Mr. Crowley and Deputy Tóibín. We are very positive regarding the SME market. It is a relatively new area of business for us, but it is one that we are growing in significantly. To give some context in that regard, the half-yearly figures will show that we have drawn €50 million for small businesses across the country and that is the same amount as we provided in the whole of last year. Although in the market overall lending has fallen by about 23%, we will have doubled our lending. We hope to have done many times what we have done thus far by the end of the year, as we continue to grow our team, our products and services and our support for those customers.

A major part of that undertaking has been the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, fund. We have engaged with the SBCI and rolled out a €50 million fund as part of its future growth loan scheme.

That was twice oversubscribed. We see a huge opportunity in this market for us to step in and become a significant player in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Ireland. We look forward to that opportunity of supporting those customers in all the communities in which we operate right across the country. Although the market has fallen this year, we see our business growing strongly. We are continuing to invest in our people, technology and products. It is a good opportunity for us to step up and support local small economies right across the country.