Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The quotations of our heroes of the past who set up our society and fought for our freedom are apt. The battle we are about as a country is to keep our sovereignty and independence. Accountants and auditors from the IMF and ECB will visit the Department of Finance and the House shortly. That is what everything has come to and the motion has been tabled because of the pass the country has been led to. The only way back from this abyss and away from this appalling Government is to have a general election.

The problem is banks are not lending to business. Small businesses up and down the country are starved of capital while the Government stuffs billions of euro into our banks to keep them going. However, they are hoarding the money and they are not lending. Even at this late stage, I ask the Minister of State to consider the two-tier lending system that works in America. When the Government puts money into the banks, a lower rate of interest attaches to the loans if they prove they will lend to small business while a higher rate attaches when money is hoarded.

I refer to an example that goes to the heart of the battle for survival in this country. A hotel in my home town is in receivership. It has been in the town for many years and the current owners have been in business for 20 years. They have low borrowings. They ran the business well and did not borrow during the boom. However, they are going out of business because they cannot compete with the big guys in NAMA who are not repaying their loans. These guys are cutting the market rate and a good, decent, honest hotel cannot survive in the face of such unfair competition. Why should this hotel go to the wall with the loss of 60 jobs because guys in NAMA who owe billions of euro are getting away with murder while their properties remain open?

There are decent, honourable people in our banks and many of them, thankfully, are gainfully employed. However, there were decent people in the past who were whistleblowers. There were two whistleblowers in Allied Irish Banks, one of whom is Eugene McErlean whom I know personally. He stood up to the rip-off in the bank and when he reported it to management, nothing happened. When he then reported this to our famous Regulator, nothing happened either. He was put out of the bank because he insisted on due process and proper accounting. That did not happen and if the Government does nothing else before it leaves office in ignominy, it should put these whistleblowers in our financial institutions to watch what is going on and to ensure integrity is restored to the bank boards through the good changes that are happening. I welcome the new initiative in AIB. Let us have more people who fought the good fight to make sure the banks are accountable, straight and honest. Those are the people we want running our country.

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