Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. Sinn Féin welcomes the Bill, but we believe it could have been stronger and better designed. We are concerned about that fact that even though it has taken a great deal of time for us to reach this point, the Bill is being rushed through the Dáil and the Seanad prior to the summer recess. We are not happy about this. I am aware that the Dáil only discussed the first couple of amendments on Committee Stage before the guillotine was applied. We have an issue with this, particularly in view of the importance of the legislation and the intention behind it.

A number of other speakers have also raised concerns about the content of the Bill. Reference was made to the commitment in the programme for Government to the establishment of a strategic investment bank. We know that the SBCI will not be a bank. This is because banks require banking licences and the SBCI will not have one. The corporation will obtain money at low rates of interest from the EIB and the KfW and then lend it to the retail banks in the hope they will pass it on. This is something of a convoluted way of supplying credit to Irish businesses and there are fears about whether it will work. Sinn Féin is concerned about the lack of adequate safeguards in the context of ensuring the cheaper credit being made available will reach SMEs in the real economy. People seriously distrust the banks, rightly so. There should be stronger safeguards in place. Banks which do not pass on the cheaper credit in an equitable way should be punished in some fashion. We are informed that the SBCI will operate along the same lines as Germany's KfW. As has been stated, however, the Bill does not allow for direct lending by it into the real economy. The Bill is lacking in this regard.

The Bill allows for the guaranteeing of investments without Dáil approval. That is a bad way of doing business and a mechanism which would hold those involved more responsible should be put in place. The Bill focuses very much on the SME sector, which is both right and good, because the sector is the most important in the State in the context of providing employment. Prominent economists have speculated on the likely outcome of the unravelling of SMEs that are overburdened with debt. The Central Bank has set targets for the banks in the context of debt restructuring, but, unlike those relating to mortgage arrears, these are kept secret. These targets should be made public and banks which are not doing enough should perhaps be named and shamed.

I am a firm believer in stimulating the economy and in State-led investment. In that context, I welcome the steps being taken in the legislation. As stated, however, I am disappointed that more has not been done. There is a need for a strategic investment bank to lend directly into the real economy. I again welcome the Bill.