Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Leader to arrange a briefing on what are deemed to be savage pharmacy reimbursement cuts which are causing considerable unrest. When this issue was raised a few months ago, the Minister was found wanting in her proposals at that time. From what I am hearing, I could not support the current proposal.

I ask the Leader to indicate the progress with regard to finance being made available by the financial institutions and the application of the code of conduct regarding mortgage arrears for the ordinary mortgage holder and the code of conduct for business lending. The money advice and budgeting service, MABS, plays an important role in advising domestic customers, but perhaps the Leader can indicate what is available to small and medium-sized enterprises concerning difficulties in dealing with some of the financial institutions. At the time, it was mentioned that the banks were committed to public campaigns to actively promote lending. Can the Leader indicate the success of these campaigns and the amount of additional money that is in the system? This is especially given that the banks say that if mortgage lending is not taken up, the extra capacity will be made available to SMEs. This is an important sector. According to feedback I and a number of my colleagues are receiving, the financial institutions are not playing their part.