Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister and the Bill. The one point on which I agree with Deputy Clare Daly is that this is about economic development. We can pretend and live in the utopian world in which the Deputy lives or we can live in the real world, which many of us do. The reality is that Europe and the world is in a financial crisis which requires action and leadership, not grandstanding on a soap box or on television to gain headlines. It is about the men, women, children and families we represent. I challenge the Members opposed to this Bill to come into the real world and to stop hiding and opposing, and to put forward proper, legitimate alternatives if they feel the Government is not listening to them.

The reality is that there is no free lunch and no À la carte approach. We cannot just pick and choose. There is a sense the entire country is awaiting what happens in Europe, be it in Greece, Italy or Ireland. I welcome the commitment of the Government. I say to Deputy Daly that the politics of protest and getting gangs of people out onto the streets, and having them shouting and roaring is fine in that it lets off steam and emotion. However, the people I meet every day want more than that. These are not millionaires, property developers and speculators; they are an gnáth duine - the ordinary person. Members should stop painting property developers as being pariahs. Some of them are proactive at creating jobs and we need them to get our economy back to work again, yet the mantra peddled by some is "Put them all on an island and let it drift out into the Atlantic".

Thanks to the leadership of the Minister and the Government, we are prepared to play our part in the resurrection of the country and the people's fortunes. It is in our hands. Equally, it is in the hands of Europe. Many people require the State's assistance, as we all know. If we were to default and to allow a situation to develop where there was no commonality, what would happen? What is the alternative? Who will pay the wages of gardaí, teachers, nurses and carers and who will provide services? Will we go onto Dawson Street or out to Dublin West to lead protests with placards and microphones, shouting "out, out, out"? We can all lead the protests or lead the charge against the European Union but where will it get us? Nowhere. This is part of the problem.

The Bill is about reducing the borrowing costs of the nation. It is about reassuring the people that we have within the country, in the State, a Government and a Minister who are prepared to act. People want leadership from European leaders across the European Union. They do not want intergovernmentalism or tribalism; they want the project of Europe to play the role it was meant to play. Let us forget about ideology. In simple terms, this is about the common European market and the Union. It is about people, which is also what the Bill is about. We can lie down, we can shout and roar, or we can be proactive and act decisively.

None of us wants to cut services, increase taxation or deprive people of assistance from the State. However, we must live in the real world. Someone has to pay to deliver the services. There is not an infinite pot of gold being thrust into the air which the Minister can grab. Who are the wealthy the Opposition Members want to tax? They should tell us who they are and show us where the money from the wealthy can come from.

There is a vacuum in the eyes of many with regard to European leaders and I am concerned that some European leaders are playing to their own electorates. In particular, our German and French friends have an obligation to put aside their own domestic elections and consider the bigger European project, which is what this is about. People speak about sovereignty. The European project requires real decisions to be made and I hope this will happen. At home, the Government has been proactive. There has been a jobs budget, the banks have been restructured, an interest rate reduction has been negotiated with the European Union and the IMF, the minimum wage has been restored, PRSI for employers has been reduced, VAT changes have been introduced and we have made progress, although it is not recognised by some.

I am concerned our banks are not listening and are playing a kind of three-card trick on all of us. I understand that we have tightened our monitoring approach and regulation, which I welcome. However, I am concerned that many banks have significantly tightened lending to ordinary people and small and medium enterprises. I do not agree with the proposition being put forward by some of the banks that they are lending as freely as they say. The reality is they are not. Many mortgage providers will tell people not to go to the bank for a mortgage because they will be refused. In addition, the banks are taking too long to review applications and a whole plethora of steps must be gone through in order to get a mortgage or loan. It is important that we bring in the banks and make them act in the interests of the people they are here to serve.

I am concerned distressed borrowers are not getting a fair deal from the banks. I would go so far as to say that many banks are intimidating customers. One would almost need a PhD or a degree in accountancy to read the standard financial form customers must fill out. Even the explanatory notification is incredibly complicated.

The Minister must get our banks to co-operate with small and medium enterprises, as has been thrust of Government policy. Some of the problems experienced by SMEs throughout the country can be overcome quite easily, such as a reduction in bureaucracy, greater co-operation from the banks and greater leniency by Revenue in allowing people to trade. Most importantly, we must allow people to employ, which the Government has done to an extent and which I hope it will do to a still greater extent in the forthcoming budget. The greatest challenge we face is to find a way to allow small and medium sized enterprises to employ people. Deputy Mick Wallace, who is present in the Chamber, is an employer and is far more eloquent than I in this regard.

I hope we can revisit the whole issue of NAMA. As a layman, I fear that all NAMA wants is simply to plunder and get cash back. I am afraid it will screw down the whole process and will not allow people to come up with business plans in order to trade their way out of their current position. I hope we can change this. Much that is positive is being done by the Government in respect of banking and finance, as well as in introducing reform and bringing leadership. As the Taoiseach noted this morning, it undoubtedly is unacceptable that so many citizens are unemployed. This is the greatest challenge facing the Government and the nation. However, to get people from being unemployed to being back at work requires a commonality that has not been found thus far in this House. I once had the misfortune to be unemployed and I still remember being obliged to go to hatch 4 in the old Cork labour exchange. One went in with one's card every Thursday and got one's money. That was soul destroying and is being replicated today. While the Government has shown leadership, Members of the Opposition who oppose and who shout and roar equally have an obligation to row in behind the Government and to suggest workable proposals. This is not about political point-scoring but is about getting one's fellow citizens, men and women, back to work. It is about the future of children who recognise we are in a difficult position but wish to see action. They are inspired by what the Government has done up to now but seek a commonality that has not been found thus far.

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