Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government puts lending targets on the banks. For 2011 and 2012, they achieved their targets. As the Deputy says, the SME sector are also repaying loans. Both sides of the balance sheet must be taken into account.

There is a general problem with credit in the domestic economy but some of it stems from lack of demand for credit rather than lack of supply. Until confidence rebuilds we will not get stronger demand. It is improving, however. The figures to which the Deputy refers, which were published today, show the domestic economy stabilised in the last two quarters of last year. The domestic economy is beginning to grow, as well as the exporting sector. I hope this will be a better year.

We must also look at non-bank sources of credit. Approximately 65% of dollar spend in the United States economy, for example, comes from the markets in one way or another and not from bank lending. We have to move in that direction in Europe. The theme I have selected for the informal ECOFIN meeting which takes place in Dublin in April is non-bank credit, to see if we can get more credit into the economy from sources other than the banks. Already, we are making some progress on that through the European Investment Bank and the particular funds that have been put in place on a joint partnership basis by the National Pensions Reserve Fund and so on.

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