Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 6, line 1, after "on-lending" to insert "and directly".

The purpose of this amendment is to allow for the possibility of the strategic banking corporation of Ireland, SBCI, lending directly into the real economy. I see no reason that provision should not be made for this in the legislation. If one of the aims of these provisions is to promote competition, we should set about it in a very straightforward way. If the model we are using is based on Germany's KfW, we should not exclude the possibility of the SBCI doing whatever that bank can do, including lending directly into the real economy.
As I pointed out on Second Stage, one of our concerns is that the retail banks will simply soak up the funding available from the SBCI and instead of passing it on to small and medium-sized enterprises, as is the intention, will favour preferred customers, which may well be larger companies. Allowing the SBCI the capacity to lend directly would, if nothing else, keep the banks on their toes.