Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When the Deputy says "bail out developers", the truth is that no developer has received any bailout. As the Deputy knows from newspaper reports, developers are being continuously pursued for assets by State agencies. Of course, we have had to keep the banks open. Bank shareholders have been wiped out, but the banks continue, and we need to rebuild solid lending institutions focused on the needs of SMEs.

There are many problems in this area, and there is no doubt that a banking system that is reducing the size of its loan book and is trying to get back into a proper relationship is constrained. On aggregate, we have €2.5 billion in alternative funding sources for business that is not coming from banks. That is part of our response, between the National Pensions Reserve Fund, development capital funds and the schemes to which we referred. There are targets on pursuing the banks but we are also introducing new vehicles that we must make strong and roadworthy. That process is continuing.

See this speech in context