John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I am aware of two medium to large sized businesses where the owners are telling department heads to purchase nothing for January and that only what is in stock is to be sold over Christmas because they do not want to receive bills in January. That was not the reason we stayed up all night, put emphasis on ensuring stability and took the risk for the State. The last thing we want is for the banks to stop lending because then recession becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Good firms need money and they need to be capitalised now.