John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

Fine. There is nothing wrong with it. I propose not a bad bank but an asset or property bank, which could be saved as we go along in terms of the assets and property portfolios it holds. It would give the banks that have the real thrust of business interests in mind the opportunity to be banks.

I want to turn to costs. I ask the ESB to cut its costs by 25% now. That is what it can do to make a contribution. I ask local authorities, strapped as they are for cash, to examine their planning fees and charges and do something about them. It is within their remit to do this. We must examine VAT returns in terms of the businesses that come under that limit and allow them to pay VAT on receipts instead of on invoices. These are small issues to protect existing jobs.

Last week I was in Enterprise Ireland and 71 high-potential start-up companies were seeking money from venture capitalists and banks. Enterprise Ireland gave them €21 million and they leveraged €169 million in investment in their different projects, creating 1,000 jobs over the next three years. That is a substantial contribution by that sector, and nobody talked about it. Very positive things are happening in the economy. I recognise it is bad. We are suffering from a global downturn, but those companies are trading here and abroad and maintaining jobs. A significant package must be put together for the SME and micro sector doing business in this country to assist them to survive, and that has to involve the banks.

As a social democrat I say to the Taoiseach and to the Minister for Finance that whatever we do in this House next week we must protect the vulnerable, the less well off, the elderly and so on. I know the wrongs that were in the last budget and the Opposition Deputies can accuse me of that and describe how we stood up and clapped, and go through all that. If, however, we do not park some of that old baggage and deal with some of the real issues in this new economy and be political leaders in this new situation, we will continue to be condemned by the public and will continue to offer poor answers in a desperate situation.

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