Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a joke that we are required to put through a legislative measure of this importance in this manner. It is unacceptable and farcical and we really should not accept it. We have dealt with only six amendments and other important amendments will not be even debated. I do not wish to use all the minutes remaining but I have some practical questions for the Minister. Will there be minimum loan amounts under these products?

Who is the Minister targeting here? Is it the medium size enterprises? Is a minimum loan of €50,000 or €100,000 envisaged in respect of the loan products that will be made available? Again, there is the question of when it will move from being only available for investment purposes to being available for working capital for businesses.

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