Mr. Ed Sibley:

Clearly, there is a role for credit unions. We touched on this, on a number of different occasions. We only touched on it. I am a very strong believer in the role of the credit unions. They can play a really important role, from a financial inclusion perspective. They can play a really important role in terms of local communities. We are, as Mr. Casey has outlined, examining the lending frameworks that exist today to make sure that they are fit for purpose for today and tomorrow. Clearly, there is a role for credit unions. There are potential opportunities for others to play a role in servicing SMEs in other parts.

If one looks at how banks are lending within Ireland it is relatively well geographically dispersed. In and around one-third of new lending takes place in Dublin. However, other jurisdictions are relatively well dispersed. There are lots of other options for SMEs. Maybe it is not enough but there are lots of other options for SMEs in terms of access to finance. Leasing plays nearly a bigger role for SMEs in terms of total finance than bank lending does. Internal generation of funding plays a much bigger role in terms of the investment SMEs do than bank finance. Then we have other possibilities. Peer to peer lending is increasing and so on. There are other players in the market, not necessarily just banks. I do not want to overly focus on one particular study but there has been a study of the European system and SME access to finance. Ireland would rank below the likes of the UK, Germany and Austria but above the likes of Italy, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus.