Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The credit guarantee scheme and its revision have been announced as often as I have had hot breakfasts. Will it be done this session? Will it be done before Easter? The scheme was identified as flawed in October 2013, when the Department reviewed it. The new element the Minister has introduced this morning is absolutely vital and urgent because the bank I am referring to, which is one of the main players, is actively putting loans on the market. People need protection.

The Minister and the Government are sleepwalking while many small businesses are being destroyed by legacy debt. They are willing to face up to it and enter into a package. The two pillar banks are putting facilities in place, but while we await a solution exactly as the Minister has outlined, our hands are tied and we can do nothing. Debts are being sold week by week and the scheme will be too late. Will the revised credit guarantee scheme with this new element be introduced before the Easter recess?

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