Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government has set targets for the pillar banks in respect of SME credit access. We are working through the Department of Finance with the German credit bank KfW to realise possibilities. There is an increasing trend involving corporates acquiring commercial banking licences to lend, at appropriate rates, to firms that use their own technology and equipment.

Of course, the SME sector is critical to the development of the country. That is why we have made an absolute Government priority of focusing on jobs this year. That is why, for 20 months in a row, the number on the live register has begun to fall. This is why, for the first time in several years, there is increasing confidence in the SME sector regarding where the future lies. That future lies in job creation, increased exports, and being lean and competitive. Access to credit is part of this. If the Deputy had been prepared to change his Bill to accommodate where we want to be, he would probably get a different answer.

It is not a case of just turning down Deputy Donnelly's Bill; it is legally unsound and unfair to other creditors.

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