Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are using the existing bank network to distribute the finance to people who need it. If we set up our own network, it could slow down the process, it could be cumbersome and costly and so on. The credit guarantee, which works all across Europe, is done this way. We guarantee the financial products. This puts the banks in a stronger position to give people a better deal on their loans. That is what we are trying to achieve. We all want the same thing, namely, access to finance and access to it on simpler terms and at lower cost in monetary terms as well. That is what we are trying to achieve with this legislation. We believe this will happen because this legislation also removes the portfolio cap, which, as rightly identified by many in this House, was a major impediment to achieving those lower interest rates. In passing this legislation, we will be in a much stronger position to reach out with a better financial product.

I mentioned a mix of products. There are numerous banks and lending institutions that will use this scheme and, therefore, there will be a range of products available. I hope we will see competition in terms of prices and interest rates. There will also be different types of loans such as overdrafts, term loans, and longer term loans of three years, five years and six years. That is what I meant when I said there would be a mix of products. We will track them all. Following enactment of this legislation, we will work with the banks in the weeks ahead to have these loans up and running by September or, all going well, before that if we can with lower cost of funding as well. Legislation is not where one would write in the interest rate or the terms and condition of loans. That is part of the agreement process and the legal documents that will be signed between the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland and the lending institutions that are going to avail of this scheme. This is not confined to the pillar banks. Lest members missed this point last night, this is not just about the pillar banks, although they are the predominant entities in the discussions thus far. The first 30% of funding will be allocated, if they want it, to those banks. The remaining 70% will be an open call to credit unions, post offices and other financial institutions that want to avail of the scheme. I ask members to bear in mind that it is open to all of the financial institutions that want to lend money.

I will move now to the questions raised by Deputy O'Reilly. I do not take offence that she is insulted that I am here and not the senior Minister. To be clear, I would expect that business people who follow this debate and listen to us discuss matters that will affect them and their businesses in accessing funding would expect this House to act in a reasonable businesslike manner. I refer not to Deputy O'Reilly but to Deputy Pearse Doherty who last night made a big drama out of the Tánaiste not being here for the debate. He was acting like a child. I mean no offence to Deputy O'Reilly. I know Deputy Doherty is her colleague but he was acting like a child.

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