Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

Amendment No. a1e is grouped with these amendments in the names of Deputy Burton and me. We would like some clarification. It is extremely important to remember this is taxpayer's money. The Minister mentioned advanced contributions in the order of €3 billion. Those contributions should be restricted purely to investment in these financial institutions with specific reference to ensure the flow of credit.

We have also looked to ensure the institutions which receive funds from the National Pensions Reserve Fund publish a quarterly report to the Houses of the Oireachtas, detailing the increased lending they have provided to enterprises and first-time purchasers. I note some Fianna Fáil backbenchers have also made this point and agreed with me. There is a 10% increase in capacity for small and medium-sized businesses within the proposed scheme and a 30% increase in capacity for first-time buyers.

We need to know exactly what the institutions will do, how many people they have considered for loans, how many loans they have granted and the terms by which such loans are advanced so that the House can see they have honoured their commitments. We need to see the number of loans they are granting, the number of people involved, the amounts granted and the number of applications refused. Ultimately, there is a danger we will lose sight of the main function of the recapitalisation of the banks, which is to ensure funds flow to small business.

We are discussing this Bill in light of the fact that the Government is now looking to find €5 billion. The worry is it will take funds out of the economy. It is critical the banks ensure we do not have a situation where there is further contraction in funds from banks. In amendment No. a1e we put forward two very straightforward measures. The first is that the advanced contributions would be specifically used to invest in the financial institutions concerned. The second measure, given the reason for this recapitalisation is to ensure the flow of credit in the economy, that any institutions involved — the two currently involved are AIB and Bank of Ireland — must publish a quarterly report detailing the increased lending provided to enterprises and first time buyers to the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Last night, during the Private Members' debate, the Minister built his speech around co-operation with the Opposition. We are introducing proposals and the Minister, in terms of the remuneration committee on higher executive bankers, has refused to provide the report to the House. He effectively evaded the question, which I take to be a negative.

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