Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 2:

After "at this time"' in the third line to add:

"— criticises the Government's ongoing failure to address the lack of credit available to SMEs.

— notes that the Government has completely abandoned its pre-election and programme for Government promises on addressing upward only rent reviews; and

— further notes that the Government parties, the Labour Party and Fine Gael, have a control of the majority of rate setting local authorities across the country."

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy John Perry. I am fascinated by the contributions of the two Senators. Is it due to feeling guilty that they put down this motion? They are in Government. The issue I wish to address is access to credit, which Members have heard me discussing on numerous occasions in the past six months. I do not know why the Senators cannot exert their influence on their partners in Government on the issue of lack of credit for SMEs.

On the Order of Business this morning we spoke about the disarray in the Government regarding the DEIS schools and its lack of leadership in dealing with the household charge. Fianna Fáil supports the charge, and has supported it from the start. I paid the charge immediately. However, the lack of leadership by the Government on this issue is pitiful and it has frightened people throughout Ireland. It is chaotic. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, is saying one thing, that the charge can be paid in a post office, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, said two weeks ago that people like to get a bill. I find that confusing. Then the Minister of State, Deputy Lucinda Creighton, said that the Government had handled it badly.

In some ways the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, is making great progress. I compliment him on his visit to China where there are outstanding opportunities for Irish companies. The opportunities there are awesome. However, at the same time, on the issue of the lack of credit for small and medium sized companies, the Government produced the action plan on jobs. As a business person, I find paperwork and a long report ridiculous. I want this Government and its Labour Party members to walk the walk, not just write reports. They should demand a trajectory for securing money from the banks.

I wish to put on record that the Minister of State, Deputy John Perry, is an outstanding proponent for small business. He is putting in a huge effort to attend regional meetings throughout the country and to speak to companies. His heart is in the right place and he knows from where I am coming on this issue. However, businesses are finding it practically impossible to access loans or proper credit facilities to enable them to protect existing jobs and create new ones. The absence of credit is causing businesses to reduce their workforces or even close down.

The Government must take action to guarantee increased credit to struggling businesses. I am anxious to hear what the Labour Party Senators, who are due to speak later, will say in response to my comments on the lack of access to credit and why the Government has not made it available. As the Minister pointed out in his report on small business, there are almost 200,000 small businesses in Ireland supporting almost 700,000 people. A significant number of these firms employ fewer than ten people. Many trade on international markets but there is huge potential to improve their exports and to create employment.

At the beginning of March I heard the Governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan, speak at a conference in the Central Bank on small and medium sized business and I wondered why the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for Finance do not listen to him. He said that Ireland is the most difficult country in the eurozone for small businesses to access credit, and that credit is not flowing as freely in Ireland as it is in other European countries. He stated, "Credit conditions for SMEs are tougher in Ireland than anywhere elsewhere in the euro area both in terms of cost and availability." He went on to point out that Irish small and medium sized businesses were the second least successful, after those in Greece, in obtaining credit, according to an EU survey on access to finance in the euro area. At that conference, the Central Bank found that credit conditions were substantially less favourable for Irish companies. The conference examined factors such as likelihood to be rejected for a loan, the size of loans, the level of collateral required to secure them and the commission, fees and interest rate charged. All of these were substantially less favourable in Ireland than in the average euro area.

On 12 March, ISME reported that 91% of companies had stated that banks were making it more difficult to access finance.

Some 92% of SMEs say the Government is making no difference or is having a negative effect on lending to small and medium enterprises. ISME's chief executive, Mr. Mark Fielding, said: "We must put an end to the fiction that bailed out Irish banks are functioning properly ... access to credit is abysmal, the application process is getting longer and businesses are not being told their rights."

Senator Landy earlier drew attention to the representative of ISME in the Visitors Gallery. I do not know why the Senator is not mortified and embarrassed. Mr. Fielding continued his comments by saying "the banks are simply the living dead. They restrict credit lines, delay decisions, miss deadlines and generally hinder progress".

On many occasions in this House, I have told the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation that there is a crisis in the economy. On the one hand, we know that demand is falling because consumers are not spending, while those who have money are saving it. The retail sector is flat but we need to keep small and medium enterprises going. I find it amazing that the Government side is so blasé about it. I am constantly amazed that Government party Senators are not putting pressure on the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister for Finance in this regard. I look forward to hearing what the Minister of State will have to say about this.

How many times have we heard the micro-finance and loan guarantee schemes being announced? They were in the Fine Gael manifesto. I understand why Labour Party Members want to get their credentials right and say they are for business. I never thought they were anything else. They do not have to prove that to me. In Government, however, they are not putting pressure on the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to get credit made available. They should stop listening to the banks and listen to businesses instead.