Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Certainly. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his interest in this matter and for agreeing to this discussion. I look forward to the continued engagement of Senators both at committee level and in this House with legislation I will be bringing forward on this matter.

It is important to say that I will be taking direct responsibility for the credit guarantee scheme. We intend to amend the relevant legislation to make the scheme more effective. Microfinance Ireland has also been reviewed because both it and the credit guarantee scheme have not worked as well as they might have. We have accepted that and we understand that we need to make sure that they do work. We intend to amend the legislation and I will be back in this House when we are going through it. At that point, we can have a full and open discussion on the legislation. We must ensure that the products, services and systems that we have in place work better.