Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State and the Bill. I am delighted the Minister of State, who has responsibility for SMEs, is taking the Bill. Over recent years I went around the country visiting retailers and others and discovered an assumption that they could not get a loan. In the first few years, I found that if they put forward a strong proposal, money was available and it could be granted. People had talked themselves into assuming they could not get a loan. In recent times, it has tightened up a great deal. In the past three months, 54% of credit applications were refused but the original reports were much better. It seems there has been a deterioration.

The Minister of State has already heard ideas on helping SMEs such as longer banking hours, a mobile telephone app to help with applying for a loan or addressing the fact that SMEs do not know which person in larger branches of the banks is dealing with the accounts. A dedicated person should be appointed to SME accounts in each branch in order to build trust between the business and the bank.

There could be one common application form common to all banks. This would streamline the process and reduce accountancy costs. Is the Minister of State considering that?