Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I am glad the Deputy said there are specialist areas because that is our belief. It is also the belief of Forfás, which issued the report. It indicated there were specialist areas where it may not be possible for the businesses concerned to obtain a bank loan and that in such areas the State should step in. We are fairly positive that we can do so in certain circumstances. However, the message must go from here that any guarantee would apply to only 2% to 4% of loans. It is important to stress that point because such a guarantee scheme cannot be the panacea, as Mr. John Trethowan said, for all the ills in terms of businesses seeking credit.

We target what we do in this sector. We want to give additionality, particularly to the technology sector because businesses in that sector will have no collateral or cash and it will be important for those businesses to be driven to enable them to grow.

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