Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Mr. Sibley has given an example of new bank lending to non-real estate SMEs, which has increased from €2 billion in 2013 to €3.75 billion in the first quarter of this year. What should we be looking at and how far out are we from where we should be as a normalised banking system? From the Central Bank's point of view, should it be much more or a lot more or does it believe that lending to SMEs is still suppressed or at normal levels? I am trying to get a range from the Central Bank as to where it thinks lending should be at now. Mr. Sibley's survey shows that micro-firms are experiencing a high level of negative responses from lending institutions.

Should lending, from the Central Bank's point of view, be increased?