Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I look forward to what I hope will be a progressive announcement.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the credit crisis which was referred to by the Minister of State. I noted his comments on NAMA. If it is to work - for the sake of the country's economic future, let us all hope it will - small businesses, including shopkeepers, plumbers, electricians and farmers, will need immediate access to credit. Bankers claim they are making money available; it seems, however, that those seeking working capital, including farmers, are unable to access it from Irish financial institutions. Perhaps there will be some type of pronouncement or suggestion in the budget statement this afternoon. There is a political obligation on the Government to place a strong moral obligation on the banks to respond to what has been done by the taxpayer and the political establishment for the Irish banking system. If that is to be successful, it can only be judged by credit flowing again. Irish agriculture and many small operators, whether they are contractors, or farmers, in seeking money for stocking loans and so on, are on the verge of shutdown as a result of their inability to access money. I know the case has been made to the Minister of State a thousand times, but it has to be repeated strongly, if credit is to be made available again by the banks.

I thank the Acting Chairman for allowing me to wander on, and I look forward to discussing this very important subject again, in the near future, after this afternoon's budget. We look forward to some positive pronouncements. The key one for me in the short term would be a rebate on the prospective carbon tax. We do not want carbon tax to be a shut-down burden, almost, on Irish agriculture.