James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I wish to raise two issues. The Tánaiste told the country on 27 January that there would be a loan scheme for small businesses. Her successor, the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, told the country in June that there would be such a scheme and again in September he told the Small Firms Association that the plans were well advanced. Many Fianna Fáil backbenchers could not wait to spread the good news.

However, yesterday we got a very confused answer from the Taoiseach. Where is the legislation to enable this to happen? This is an important issue for business. There are 80,000 businesses in this sector and 800,000 people employed in it. Similar schemes have operated across the Europe and elsewhere, including in Chile and Taiwan, where I visited during the summer. They have been extraordinarily successful and have not been a burden on the exchequer of those respective states.

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