Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The point I made was that the information given by the IMF was that there would not be a wall of cash as referred to by the Minister for Finance arising from NAMA, a fact that was not disclosed to this House by the Taoiseach or Ministers during the debate on NAMA in this House. The assertion made by Fine Gael that NAMA would not result in a return to significant lending to Irish business has been vindicated by what the IMF stated. It was further vindicated by Mr. Sheehy at an Oireachtas committee meeting in November last when he stated that if people believe that the day after NAMA is established the country will be awash with money, they are wrong - that is not going to happen.

Yesterday, the Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Patrick Honohan, criticised bank lending policy in terms of their facilities for extending credit to Irish businesses. Thousands of Irish businesses, including retail and manufacturing industries and so on, cannot get credit from banks. The Irish taxpayer has been duped by Government into writing a cheque for €54 billion in return for a wall of cash which will not be evident. This means thousands of jobs could be lost as a result of credit drying up.

In that context and in view of the fact that this materially fundamental information was withheld from the House and that the Government would have discussed this matter at some length with Government officials, will the Taoiseach tell the House what moneys, in his estimate, will be available to banks for lending to Irish business in what is now a crisis situation for thousands of small businesses. What is the Taoiseach's estimate of the amount of money will be available to be loaned to Irish businesses all over the country which are now in crisis?

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