Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister. I congratulate him on coming to the House alone. It is rare that a Minister comes here by himself. In my experience, the Minister is a most well intentioned and idealistic Minister with responsibility for enterprise. The Minister knows that the lack of credit is an emergency situation. It is the elephant in the room but we must address it.

In his speech at the weekend, Deputy Micheál Martin said that legislation may be required if the banks do not give out credit. I am an admirer of the Minister so I am not being personal in my remarks but he must listen more to businesses than to the banks. The two main banks are supposed to be giving out €3 billion a year each but they are not doing so. The situation is in crisis. At a conference last Friday in the Central Bank to issue a report on the subject of credit availability to small and medium companies, the Governor, Patrick Honohan, said that small and medium-sized businesses are facing a dual challenge in terms of funding. For example, the personal wealth of families is being depleted and they cannot put money into businesses.

It is much more difficult to start a business today than when Connie, Judy and I did so in the 1980s. We were given £5,000 from the Bank of Ireland in Dundrum to research our project on chocolate-making. It is much more difficult now because the money is not there. There is no doubt that small and medium-sized Irish companies are the generators of new jobs in our economy. The report stated that foreign direct investment companies are more productive but that is because they are more capital intensive while our indigenous industries are more labour intensive. The Governor of the Central Bank also told the conference that credit conditions for Irish small and medium enterprises are worse than for their European counterparts. A total of three quarters of Irish firms say they must pay higher interest rates compared with 62% in the euro area. It is also more difficult to obtain larger loans in Ireland and collateral requirements are also higher.

The Minister is an economist and will be familiar with the February edition of the Department of Finance monthly economic bulletin. The chart in the bulletin can only be described as brutal because it shows a consistent decrease in credit availability to the private sector. The bulletin states that the annual rate of growth in private sector credit advanced to Irish citizens was minus 3.8% in December, accelerating from a 1.9% decrease in November 2011. I am sympathetic to the Minister's position. The banks are holding on to money for their reserves and they are not giving it out. I know there is no magic bullet but something must be done otherwise employment will not be created nor will companies be able to continue in business.

I refer to the Minister's document but, in my view, it was a bit too lengthy. Albert Reynolds relied on a one-page solution to problems. The temporary partial loan guarantee scheme and the micro-finance loan scheme have been announced but these much-needed major initiatives will not be up and running until the second quarter of this year at the earliest. I do not understand why they are not available and why the money from these two schemes has not been provided. I ask for the Minister's comments in this regard. The only aspect of the action plan for jobs which interests me is the availability of credit. I am disappointed with the situation regarding the county enterprise boards. Has there been an increase in funding? The enterprise boards should have been transferred to Enterprise Ireland under Mr. Frank Ryan. I have personal experience of dealing with him when he worked with Mr. Padraic White in the 1980s. When he worked in the United States he would go through steel to get a project.

I disagreed with my colleague, Deputy John McGuinness, at our seminar on jobs. I did not believe that the situation in enterprise boards was so bad. I ask the Minister to explain the reason they were put under the control of the local authorities.

I believe the Government has a higher regard for foreign direct investment than the then Fianna Fáil Party when in government. I remember during the years of the Celtic tiger there was very little appreciation for multinational investment coming into the country. The then government was blinded by the tax yield from the property bubble. It does my heart good that Mr. Barry O'Leary and Mr. Frank Ryan are getting such support from the Minister. Where would we be without the multinationals? They were not appreciated by the last government. I was in the Seanad and know what was said and what was ignored. The regional transfer of PayPal to County Louth is a perfect example of a dramatic job announcement.

I know the Minister has his heart in the right place but he must put the screws on the banks. Do we need to bring in legislation to ensure they provide funding for business? That is the bottom line.