Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Does the Chair not know I am always brief? I agree entirely with the sentiments expressed by Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. As public representatives, we have to deal with the situation on the ground all the time. That is reality. The banking system must be alert to and aware of the need to respond quickly to the people about whom Deputy Healy-Rae has spoken. The local authorities also need to do so. There was a time when you could arrange for what was called an SDA, a small loan available under the Act of 1966. A person was almost guaranteed a loan from a local authority, particularly if he or she could not get a loan anywhere else. After a while, local authorities became reluctant to give money on the basis that some people might default. People always defaulted in certain circumstances, although we do not want to encourage that. However, the local authorities are not banks but housing agencies. There is a big difference. What happened in recent years is that local authorities have been running their housing supports as if they were banks. It is not good and cannot work.

There is illustration at the moment of how quickly the international markets and banks are affected. Any kind of a bubble in any part of the globe, such as was the case at the Silicon Valley Bank, can take off quickly and have repercussions all over. Credit Suisse was regarded as safe, solid and all that kind of stuff. I know there were considerable problems and many crises in that institution for many years, but the fact of the matter is it was affected and latched onto another bank. That kind of thing illustrates to me how quickly the banking system can be affected in today's world by some indication of instability.