Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

I welcome this. The problem sometimes is that many of these systems are automated and somebody may not have an absolutely clear record. There can be many reasons for this which are explainable, and at one time people could have gone in and sat down with the bank manager to explain the reason something happened and they could come to an agreement. This was also the case for people with good creditworthiness. This is something that needs to be looked at.

With regard to the length of time it can take to draw down credit, I wonder whether any analysis has been done on situations where all of a grant is drawn down by one cohort of people while another cohort of people, such as those coming to our constituency offices, find it very difficult. We need to be conscious of this and ensure we bring all businesses with us and ensure the sustainability of all businesses.

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