Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I will ask about Tallaght first. Is the Minister of State concerned about the crisis facing many small and medium size enterprises arising from the credit famine, which is contributing significantly to the massive increase in unemployment levels? A large factory shedding 300 jobs will make headlines but I suggest that the hidden cost of a factory closure will be another 300 jobs lost down the line.

Will the Minister of State condemn the refusal of banks to make available the normal credit streams which are the life blood of small companies? Why is the Government not prepared to provide alternative sources of credit? Members of the Government have spent recent months clapping themselves on the back for introducing the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Bill. Despite the Government stepping in to rescue the banks, chief executives and others continue to pay themselves top dollar. Why has the Government not brought representatives of the banks into the Departments of the Taoiseach and of Finance to tell them their job is to lend money and that, having been helped out by the public, it is their turn to show patriotism and help out small businesses? If we fail to get our act together, these businesses will die on their feet and rural areas will be decimated and left without jobs.

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