Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not want to make a connection between the report and the increases, but the reality is that the increases have happened. The Minister has a role because he is the main shareholder in one of the banks and a minority shareholder in the other. He is the Minister whose Department regularly publishes targets for small and medium enterprise, SME, lending and the condition of that sector's finances. I quoted the charges of Bank of Ireland, which has indicated that they are being introduced in line with the Government's national payments plan. I do not accept this and it is a cop-out by Bank of Ireland. As somebody who is in charge of SME lending and pushing the banks into such lending, the Minister has a role. This is particularly relevant, as we are about to establish the strategic banking corporation which could have been another player in the market if it had been approached differently as an independent bank in its own right. We are going to give these guys more money to lend to the same businesses on which they are piling pressure.

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