John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I thank every Member who contributed to this important debate. The Fine Gael motion calls on the Government to introduce a credit guarantee scheme, precisely targeted at viable small businesses that have the ability to repay the loan. It is all about jobs, jobs and more jobs. The Government amendment does a trawl through the policy archive and lists all the old news about previously announced scheme and past broken promises to help small business. We are referring to emerging sectors that are very much under pressure such as green energy, biotechnology, tourism, health care, agriculture, construction and creative industries.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation stated that the banks have been recapitalised and have been instructed to make credit available to small business. The Minister for Finance stated, "a wall of cash from NAMA can help to restore the credit flow, even allowing for fewer banks and the retrenchment of many UK-owned banks". Some banks have left the market and transferred their loan book to the banks that remain active in the market. These new loans have not provided additional credit for the small business sector. Other banks are not taking on new clients. They are closed for business and they are only tidying up their affairs by creating their own NAMA or good bank-bad bank structures internally. There is a lack of credit for small business on the ground, regardless of the 2,000 companies that have been supported. The Minister of State did not refer to the other 78,000 companies.

To use the Government's own phrase, "a wall of cash" was provided to bail out the banks. The banks were then expected to support small business and protect jobs. The wall of cash is in the banks to shore up their balance sheets but, as Deputy Burton said, the banks are standing guard in front of this money. Cash is not being made available to viable businesses on the ground, regardless of the commitment made by the State-guaranteed Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland. I again refer to the three supports for business. Does the Minister not agree that, as the Government has bailed out the banks at a cost of billions of euro, the banks should invest in business and, therefore, the third tier should be the retention of jobs, which is not happening?

The Minister failed to acknowledge that small businesses have identified an urgent need for a credit guarantee system. Three weeks ago, Forfás made the same case. It was announced on a Friday evening without any fanfare in case it would get publicity. The experience in other countries is that small businesses are being aggressively supported by use of loan guarantees, as well as export promotion and export insurance schemes. They are self-financing schemes, as is the scheme I have proposed.

Last night, the Minister made an outrageous statement that the Fine Gael motion proposes a loan guarantee scheme to let the banks off the hook. Over the past ten years, the actions of Fianna Fáil and other parties have let the banks off the regulation hook and the result has been a complete lack of confidence resulting in no credit. The Minister certainly is not smelling the coffee. Thanks to this Fianna Fáil-led Administration, the only people on the hook for Government and banking incompetence are the ordinary taxpayers of the country and no one should forget that. Thanks to Government support, the failed bankers and the failed developers are off the hook. The more than 1,000 small businesses that have been forced to close this year are also off the hook. The Government controls the banking sector.

While the banks are on the Government hook, they are hiding behind the code of conduct for SME lending, published in 2009. The code was meant to facilitate access to credit for small business. The Minister of State also mentioned the credit review office. Fine Gael fully intends to expand the functions of the office because it currently can only examine applications that have been refused. An applicant's ability to repay should also be assessed. The code of conduct is not doing the necessary job. It is time to revised code in order that the initial loan application will be completed within 28 days. It can take nine months currently and the banks are hanging people out hoping their businesses will close before they give a decision. The code has failed to deliver. Instead, it has become an obstacle course for anyone trying to access credit. The Minister referred to positive signs in recent weeks and the need for consumer confidence and he stated the Government is doing what it can to provide the best operating environment. This rhetoric does a disservice to the reality on the ground. The banks are not providing credit to small business. Typical small businesses up and down the country need help. They are not getting any help from the Government and the number of small business insolvencies speaks for itself. The number of people now unemployed is 500,000. We need to kick-start the economy. For the past two years we have listened to an endless loop of Fianna Fáil commentary on banks and bank bailouts, but we have heard very little about the needs of small companies.

This Fine Gael motion proposes a credit guarantee scheme for viable small businesses with the ability to repay the loan. This scheme is a practical solution to the credit problem of the typical small business, 80,000 of which employ 800,000 people. This motion deserves the support of every Deputy and I commend it to the House.

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