Dr. Eoin Magennis:

The research would suggest that the larger the firm, the longer the payment time to suppliers and to customers. I suspect that over recent years, the larger firms, due to their muscle, have been extending their payment terms. I know the Government has done some work in trying to reduce the length of payment terms to suppliers, but it is a tricky one and it means people are back to the business plan in respect of cash management and so on. In fairness to the banks, they have initiatives and processes in place to help firms with that, but again it is about getting greater uptake of such services from the banks in terms of cash management.