Mr. Niall O'Donnellan:

There are still issues on the supply and demand sides. Deputy Deasy indicated some of them with regard to the supply side in terms of the banks. These problems concern their experience of cashflow lending and the skill they have in that. Banks are now re-skilling and upskilling their front-line teams to be able to deal with the full range of businesses in the Irish economy from the microbusiness to the small business to the medium-sized business to exporting elements and some of the larger companies. That is an issue of skill and confidence, particularly on the front line. They are very important issues that banks are seeking to address. The supply of funding is important and their relationship with the EIB is particularly important in terms of being able to access funding for SMEs. I have already referred to the AIB facility of €80 million which is particularly important because it is targeted at innovative companies, particularly exporting companies.