Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can only give the Senator the information that I know. The staff in the local enterprise office in Wexford know much more than I know. The staff in those offices are up to speed on what is available and they pass that information on to businesses throughout the country.

I will conclude by referring to the banks, God bless them. Significant funds are available and the banks are improving, but my criticism of them relates to the structure of their underwriters. I asked a colleague in the Dáil to table a parliamentary question about the banks' underwriters. Nobody seems to know who they are. Their identity seems to be kept a closely guarded secret. I am told that they are independent of the banks. That is a lovely position for the banks to be able to keep them at arm's length and a bank can say in response to a question that it was a matter for the underwriters. It is not good enough. It is a clever position for the banks if they want to refuse one credit. Bank lending is about risk. Senator White spoke about risk and the banks not being good enough and not being capable. From what I am experiencing, while the risk being taken has increased a little, it has not increased enough. The entrepreneurs, the business people in SMEs throughout the country, are taking a far greater risk than the banks. I would like something to be done about that.

The Minister of State is welcome to the House and I wish him well in his role.