Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I am delighted to hear that. It is imperative that the Minister issues these guidelines. That is reflected in the word "shall" in the Minister's amendment and in the important subsection (2) that requires participating institutions to comply with the guidelines issued. It states "A participating institution shall comply with any guidelines issued under subsection (1)." We will table an amendment if the Government does not accept this one.

The Minister's willingness to consider my point about the credit mediator relates to his existing provision in section 210(1)(b) which describes the guidelines as relating not only to lending practices but also to the review of decisions of participating institutions to refuse credit facilities. The objective of the credit mediator model is to intervene where credit facilities have been refused and to ensure that they are granted where businesses are viable, and to name and shame where banks refuse to lend to viable businesses. That is the provision under which a credit mediator model might well be introduced.