Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

It is being strangled by a lack of co-operation and credit from the banks. May I tell the House what I heard locally in Galway? Our local banks are not even sending loan applications to their headquarters because they know it would be pointless.

The Minister has all of this on his shoulders and he must intervene for the taxpayer. He must tell the banks that, if the Government gives them something, they must give a legal guarantee to provide credit for small and medium-sized enterprises, which the good Leader has always stated is the lifeblood of business, and protect the mortgages of home owners. It is time there was a dividend for the taxpayer.