Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this important Bill and I commend the Minister and officials in the Department for their work in bringing it before the House.

Cash flow is the life blood of business. In the best of businesses, credit or loans are inevitably needed. It is clear that small and medium enterprises are in significant difficulty in obtaining credit or loans in recent times. Public representatives know this from anecdotal information. Businesses in Offaly and Laois have highlighted the difficulty and it is official as a result of research conducted by the Central Bank.

For example, a local business man with a well-established company recently secured extra business. He had a good credit rating and substantial collateral. However, this was not enough for a bank who refused him a loan when he wished to expand the business. Thanks to this Bill, this will no longer be the case and the entrepreneurs on whom we so clearly depend will be in a better position to continue to do what they do best, to create jobs.

Surprisingly, we are the most difficult country in the eurozone for small businesses to access credit. Clearly, this situation cannot be allowed to continue. Small businesses are a key component in the functioning and growth of the economy and so this is serious matter which must be addressed. I will take the liberty of quoting Patricia Callan of the SFA who said, "At a time when jobs are in short supply every citizen should be actively encouraged to create a job for themselves".

While we are all delighted to welcome good news stories of job announcements as a result of foreign direct investment, it is vital that we provide for the 90% of small businesses which are microenterprises. It has been calculated that on average, funds will be available to the tune of €16,000 and if a business has already been refused credit from banks or other financial institutions, despite being a viable business such as my friend, they will be in a position to apply to Microfinance Ireland.

Many of our people have ideas, skills and determination and it is the responsibility of Government to foster entrepreneurial spirit. Microfinance Ireland will be a welcome addition to the existing supports and grants already available through the city and county enterprise boards which will soon be under the auspices of Enterprise Ireland within the local authorities. I welcome the fact that this finance will be available within the coming weeks. The State will grant €10 million to lend to microenterprises. This sum will also allow Microfinance Ireland to lever further funding.

An important component of this Bill is that the focus will be on lending to the microenterprises only as loans to the larger enterprises are already guaranteed under the new credit guarantee scheme. The Government is playing its part in delivering on its commitments in the programme for Government but each of us as consumers must ensure that when we spend, we spend locally and buy Irish as far as possible so that our small businesses such as local butchers and hairdressers, restaurateurs, small food producers, garden centres, can thrive and grow and provide us with the products and services we need. We must play our part in ensuring that as consumers we help to sustain them in their microenterprise and entrepreneurship.

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