Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I commend Deputy Leo Varadkar on bringing this Bill before the House this evening. Small and medium-sized businesses are key to maintaining employment. Businesses require credit to allow them continue to trade. Most businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, are finding it difficult to collect the funds for their goods and services.

The Minister of State's colleague said earlier that he was very aware of the fact that one of the key drivers in our economic recovery is the provision of appropriate credit facilities to small businesses and enterprises. He went on to say that it is clear to most Members in the House that the Government is taking the necessary steps to address the particular problems facing small businesses and that it will continue to take whatever action is necessary to overcome the current situation.

That statement, in addition to what the Minister of State said earlier, is contrary to a recent bank watch survey by ISME, which confirms that the banks are continuing to restrict lending to small and medium-sized industries, with the majority of the companies being refused credit facilities even in the past three months. The results indicate that the position is deteriorating on an ongoing basis. It indicates also that the blame lies firmly with the banks' selfish lending policies.

The Government must stop pussyfooting around with the banks and force them into freeing up credit. That is not happening, despite the fact that the Minister of State and the Ministers of State who spoke earlier said there is a flow of credit. The reality is that the people who are contacting elected public representatives know that credit is not being made available to them.

Contrary to all public statements issued by the banks, there is clear evidence that they are making it as difficult as possible for business customers to access badly needed credit facilities, with the serious consequences of job losses as a result. If left unchallenged, that will lead to a major increase in company closures, with thousands more jobs lost. It is important that the Minister of State, or somebody else in his Department, makes a decision with regard to the banks.

On 22 January last I wrote to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment regarding the many people who had approached me about this particular issue. They said they were in a position where they could tide themselves over for a number of weeks or perhaps months at a stretch, but they would not be able to continue to employ people and pay them if the banks do not provide credit facilities. The banks are not doing that and it is incumbent on the Minister of State to make them do it.

Enterprise Ireland is charged with responsibility for helping indigenous industries. It must be proactive rather than reactive to the many cases they originally helped and are not getting back to now to determine if they can be rescued.

I got information under the freedom of information legislation which indicated that Enterprise Ireland, in parallel to what was going on in FÁS, undertook trips on the following project titles: TV boot camp, which involved four or five days in New York City; a week's conference on digestive diseases in San Diego; and exploring sustainable furniture production in Las Vegas, among many others on which I have been given details. It is incumbent on the Minister of State to give Enterprise Ireland direct responsibility for indigenous industries such as those mentioned by my colleagues with regard to home industries, food production and other industries. Something must be done with regard to Enterprise Ireland and the many agencies that are duplicating the responsibilities for job creation and support.

See this speech in context