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

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire agus le foireann na Roinne mar gheall ar an mBille seo. Is trua é go mbíonn meon an Rialtais maidir le tuairimí an Fhreasúra dúnta i gcónaí. Rinneamar a lán iarrachta feabhas a chur ar an mBille seo, ar feadh trí uair a' chloig, agus níor éist an Rialtas linn ag an am. Chuir sé bac ar ár gcuid tuairimí. Is trua é sin. Ní bheadh muid anseo inniu ag plé an Bhille seo dá mbeadh meon níos oscailte ag an Rialtas maidir leis seo.

There are thousands of businesses around the country that have invested everything they have to keep them open. People have remortgaged their houses and sold any asset they had. They have not taken a wage from their business for perhaps a year or two in order that their business can struggle through this process. They have had this difficulty because the Government, in a pig-headed fashion, decided there should only be two pillar banks in the State.

It decided that 85% of the banking market will be in their hands. The Minister of State said he expects to see the other options I put to him earlier arrive in the market in the future. Those other options should be proactively encouraged and developed and we should ensure there is space within the market. These options are the credit union sector, the public banking sector and the crowd-funding sector, which is at a very low level of development in this State compared to other countries.

Every day, there will be businesses like McElhinneys in Athboy with 30 staff which will be teetering in the edge of existence, which will be battling their way through the courts, which will be seeking to negotiate with the banks and which will, in many cases, be turned down and close. The Government will persist in running most of the credit facilities it has created through those same banks. It is time we radically changed the banking market into a much healthier one. When people measure and analyse this Government on this issue in years to come, the failed and broken nature of the banking system will be seen as one of its major outputs.

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