Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. It is very important that this support mechanism is put in place. I have been involved in the private sector for more than 30 years and one of my concerns about the banking industry is the lack of insight it has into providing funding. The best example I can give relates to leasing companies. The banks are giving money to these companies across the board, even in the agricultural sector, but they are not doing any analysis of what local competition is already in place. One finds them giving money to competitors who are living less than a mile from each other and who are competing for a limited amount of business.

Another example is in the retail sector. I understand Ireland now has enough shopping space for a population of 13 million. We are now getting a very distorted view of the way the economy has gone downhill. We created such a huge amount of shopping space over recent years that there are idle units throughout the country. When finance houses and banks are giving out money, they should examine the requirements in the local area. That is one issue.

The other issue is that we have had a tendency in this country to loan money where there is a property asset. We never look at the real asset, which is the job creation, as that helps the local economy. One of the things about this Bill is that it gives that security, not only to the banks who are giving out the money but also to the people who are providing and creating the jobs. They are taking the risk. They might not have the asset or property to give as security to the financial institution, but they are creating something positive for the country in terms of creating jobs. There is a need for a complete change of focus by the financial institutions in how they assess applications. First, there is a need to assess competition in the local area and whether there is a need for the service of the company being set up or the expansion of its services. Second is the issue of the potential for creating downstream jobs by giving money to a company starting up. We are not giving that enough attention. The financial institutions must take an overall look at how they are giving out finance.

I welcome this Bill. It is extremely helpful and it will make a very good contribution to supporting the Government's policy on the creation of jobs.