Margaret Conlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I, too, welcome the opportunity to make a brief contribution this evening. We are all very aware of the difficulties being encountered by small to medium-sized businesses the length and breadth of the country. I am no different from any other Member of the House. I have received calls from the businesses that are struggling and finding it very difficult to manage. While the details of each individual case is different, the theme is the same.

These are businesses that prospered during the years of the Celtic tiger. They expanded their facilities and took on more workers because demands for their goods and services were on the increase. During that time the financial institutions were only too happy to lend money to them. Sometimes they did not solicit overdraft increases, but got them, nonetheless, without even looking for them. Now that activity is falling, businesses find they have to make employees redundant - not something that any business likes doing, downsize facilities and are unable to get access to credit. Worse still, they find that the overdraft limits on which they had relied as very important tools of the business have been reduced overnight, often without any warning or consultation. If suppliers' cheques bounce, employees remain unpaid and businesses cannot operate in such a regime.

In other cases, people have been told by the banks that they must change their overdrafts to term loans. They have no option but to take this route, and it is not something they are happy about. I have been advising people who might believe they have been unfairly treated by a financial institution to go to the credit review office. If a business is viable, with a good track record and good future prospects, then it deserves and needs the necessary tools to enable it to continue. The credit review office is providing businesses with independent reviews of bank refusals, and in some cases overturning the decisions of the banks.

I hoped last week I would not have to speak about this again, and here I find myself talking about the common question the media and public are fixated with. It is, in effect: "Why are you bailing out the banks, the builders, the developers and your friends?" I said before that we were not bailing out banks, builders or developers but society in general because without a proper fully functioning banking system, we would have no businesses. Everything would grind to a halt.

No matter how unpalatable the bank recapitalisation is, we have to see it through and ensure that the flow of credit to businesses continues. Another problem facing businesses is rates. They are struggling to pay their rates and while I acknowledge that local authorities need money to fund the necessary services, constituents who speak to me are finding it extremely difficult. There is no provision for rates holidays or deferred payments schemes and perhaps this is an area that should be looked at.

While I welcome all the initiatives made by Government to create jobs, I believe the efforts we have made to sustain jobs is equally important. I conclude by lauding the work of the country enterprise boards. I welcome the recent announcement by the Taoiseach of €3.3 million funding for the CEB network throughout the country. They are acting in a proactive manner. In my constituency, particularly in Monaghan which I visited last week, unfortunately the CEB is not getting the attention it deserves, but I am happy to support the Government's amendment to the motion, this evening.

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