Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy McGuinness for his question. The growth agenda has now become a feature of most comments made by European leaders, and I am very glad about that. We have made that case on behalf of the country for the last number of months, and I am glad it has crystallised with the election of President Hollande in France. The President of the EU Council, Mr. Van Rompuy, has called the meeting on 23 May the first European summit on growth for a long time. I welcome that unreservedly. It is also very clear, as Deputy McGuinness pointed out, that the agenda of the French President represents an additional factor to the elements contained in the fiscal stability treaty, on which people here will vote on 31 May. The discussions which took place yesterday between the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the EIB are part of the agenda set by the Government for investment in infrastructure projects and the development of the economy. Following several discussions with the troika, the Government has set a target of €3 billion to be realised from State assets, to be put on the market at the appropriate time and to realise the best possible benefit. The extent of what will come from that has also been discussed with the troika. The discussions that took place with the EIB revolved around the blockages in the system for the release of public private partnerships, for which the EIB is a major funder. Were those blockages to be released, then clearly a range of infrastructure sectors could certainly benefit from that in Ireland. However, that will not happen in the immediate future. There will be intensive follow up to the constructive meeting that took place between the Ministers and the EIB.

The Minister of State, Deputy Perry, has focused specifically on the issue of credit to SMEs in Ireland. The Department of Finance, the Government and the Economic Management Council are constantly in touch about the issue. This means face to face meetings with representatives of the banks, which have set out their programme on new lending for this year. The Deputy knows it is very difficult to force a bank to lend in a time of recession, and I get the same complaints as he does. I am unhappy about those complaints, but if the banks are able to deliver on the plans they have produced, then they certainly will be constructive. Many small businesses previously got money on the basis of property assets. That is no longer available to them, because banks now have to lend on the basis of assessed risk and cash flow projections. Small businesses have not had that capacity in the past either. There is a delay there, which I can see myself, where the proper cash flow projections should be put forward as part of the plan.

The Economic Management Council, which I chair, will be meeting the banks again before too long. This is a central issue. It is very important the opportunities be put in the marketplace for small and medium enterprises to have access to credit. That is why we published the legislation for partial loan credit guarantees and for the micro-finance agency, on which a great deal of work is ongoing in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Finance.

The Deputy is right to raise this issue. It is of considerable importance to the Government and we will continue to focus on it.

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