Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

As a member of the Government, the Tánaiste is responsible for the provision of credit. I know a person in south Westmeath who started a business from scratch, and who now employs eight people. The person changed the business from that of a sole trader to a limited company on 1 February, and sought €3,000 for an overdraft, something that already existed when the business was that of a sole trader. The bank refused the company the overdraft, even though the taxpayers are putting money into that same bank. The company had invested €200,000 of its own money and was investing a further €50,000 of profits into a development project, which would employ up to 20 people.

I wrote to Mr. Brian Goggin, the chief executive of Bank of Ireland. He must have known I was coming back to the House today. I e-mailed him on the 13 February and received a reply.

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