David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am sorry, Mr. Moran. It is their job to understand the problem. It is their job to have the data. It is their job to have the solutions. I did not say that there was a misunderstanding of the scale of the problem - I happen to agree with it - but Mr. Moran said it. I am only quoting the words he said. I am trying to understand the reason that is the case, time and again. To go back to the question I asked about liquidity, why is the Department so slow to put in place the solutions in regard to liquidity and why does it continue to reach for schemes that we know will not work?

Mr. Butler set up SME Recovery Ireland because there are 100,000 firms in Ireland, each employing an average of five people. We wanted to make sure that the impact of the crisis on those firms was understood by people like Deputy Cullinane and the other people in this room, and ultimately by the policy advisers in various Departments as the Government makes its decisions. I am not in the Department of Finance and I do not know what the process is. We have been explaining our problems to the Department, but I suspect that lots of people have been explaining lots of problems and somebody has to make a decision. Making those choices is ultimately the job of politicians and the Government. As has been said, this is a jigsaw. We need to find ways to balance all of those issues.

In response to Deputy Cullinane's comments I note that if I was the Secretary General of the Department of Finance today, I would still be saying that we need to base the recovery on job creation. Given the nature of the crisis, our best engine for job creation is the SMEs we have talked about. With European solidarity, which we did not have the last time around, we have an opportunity to borrow and support those SMEs in recapitalising and creating jobs. I do not change my advice depending on what hat I am wearing. I am giving my advice as an independent observer in this situation. I am not running an SME that is looking for aid. I am trying to explain what I think we should be doing based on my experience. However, as I am not in the Department of Finance, I do not know who else is looking for money or how politicians will balance those demands in the discussions of the new Cabinet that has now formed.