Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

Deputy Burton stole the words from my mouth. I was about to ask a very similar question. The long-term objective is to cover the long-term cost to Government. However, the short-term immediate need is to free up credit for SMEs in particular to allow them to continue trading, thereby keeping people in employment. We all know businesses in our constituencies that are closing on a daily basis because they cannot get overdraft facilities or borrow from the banks. Has any analysis been done as to whether credit is now beginning to flow? There was little or no evidence of this in the first few months of the guarantee scheme or following the recapitalisation of the banks.

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