Mary White (Fianna Fail)

That is fine. The Minister of State is a true gentleman. The Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, has indicated that in the initial five year phase of the scheme some €10 million in Exchequer funding will be leveraged in order to achieve a total of €40 million in additional lending. I understand this money will come from savings made within the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

Under the Bill a new company, Microfinance Ireland, will be established and granted €10 million to lend to microenterprises. For the purposes of its remit, Microfinance Ireland will classify microenterprises as firms with fewer than ten employees and a turnover or balance sheet total of less than €2 million per annum. It will supplement its initial funding with borrowings and the aim is for it to lend an average of €16,000 per enterprise to 550 enterprises a year.

My party will be supporting the Bill. All new credit is welcome and anything that can boost the SME sector has our support. It is vital that we cultivate a strong indigenous enterprise sector. The success of Enterprise Ireland under the direction of its chief executive, Mr. Frank Ryan, and its client firms shows that we can do it in this country. As the Minister of State indicated, he was very impressed by the operations of some of the very successful companies he visited on his tour around the country in the company of Mr. John Moran. The big increase in exports from the indigenous sector is enormously encouraging. While foreign direct investment will always have a role to play, it is vital that we continue to make progress in providing for a better balance in exports between home grown companies and multinationals.

Ireland imports €5 billion worth of fossil fuels per annum and €5 billion worth of food. Just consider what we might do with that €10 billion if it were not being spent abroad. There is a need to engage in a discussion on that matter.