Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid I find the Minister of State's response slightly inadequate. She tells us that a scheme has to be drawn up and approved. We know all of that but is the scheme being drawn up? I am slightly worried about what she says because she stated, "an agreement must be reached between the Department and any other potential stakeholders or financial institutions on a clear investment strategy that is developed from the gaps, if any, identified." Does that mean that the Minister of State's Department will discuss with the banks whether they should make low-interest loans available to farmers due to a gap in the market? I suspect - as a matter of fact, I would be prepared to bet my farm on it - the banks will say there are no gaps and that there is nothing to see here. Of course they will say there is nothing to see here. Of course, they will not encourage the Government to provide loans at 1.5% when they are currently charging 6.5%, or 4.5% if the loan is secured. They will say there are no gaps.

We just heard about our housing crisis. Why is our entire economy being sacrificed to the banks? Farm loans have performed. They are one type of loan that did perform. The banks threw out loads of money on housing and those loans are not performing. Every other area, including SMEs, farms and everyone else, along with their economic futures, is being held back so the banks can reclaim the money they threw out. It seems bizarre in the extreme.

Joseph Stiglitz said today that Ireland would have been better off if we had been allowed to burn the bondholders. That is not necessarily to say that we should have burned the bondholders because we were not allowed to do so. We really have to look at the economic cost to this State of not burning the bondholders. It means the money has to be repaid by the Exchequer if not the banks and the banks have to be helped to perform. This is just one other example in a sector which is performing. It is clear that agriculture is being held back by the banks. It seems to me, reading between the lines, that the Department is giving the banks a veto in this area. The banks do not want low-interest loans.

The Minister of State mentioned the SBCI. The rates it is offering are one quarter of a percentage lower. I was asked by SMEs about it. Despite all the fanfare, a quarter of a percentage does not add up to a hill of beans.

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