Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are healthy functioning companies for which an element of their business would be toxic debt. That toxic debt is dragging down the functioning element of the business and is preventing the business from investing in the future if the business is lucky enough to survive and is stopping it from creating jobs. However, in other cases it is putting businesses out of business. Tomorrow I will visit a firm in County Carlow, Dan Morrissey Ireland Limited, a quarry with €8 million of business on its books but has had difficulties with AIB. AIB is calling in the debts which could possibly lead to the loss of 130 jobs in the area. That is one element of it.

We have a whole ecosystem of new finance tools the Government has introduced - I commend the Government on making an effort on that. However, they are not working and the percentage of the drawdown is still a very long way from meeting the objective. The central issue here is the Government's policy and telling the pillar banks to operate properly with businesses and to deliver in lending.

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